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Forget dieting, chew food for longer

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
 
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30 December 2012, 12:14

If right after the New Year holidays you plan to go on a diet and gnaw only a carrot, reproaching yourself for not being able to hold on and arranging a feast of the stomach, do not despair and do not rush to load the refrigerator with fat-free curds and buy diet breads.

A new study of scientists suggests that you can lose weight and without much effort, most importantly - thoroughly chew food. Namely, each piece is chewed for at least 30 seconds.

In addition, this method will help to moderate appetite and will keep the desire to eat sweets. By the way, you can chew food carefully and on holidays, when tables are bursting with all sorts of goodies. So you can control the saturation and save yourself from overeating.

Psychologists from the University of Birmingham conducted a study in which volunteers thoroughly chewed food. As it turned out, they were able to eat only half of their portions in contrast to those who did not bother and chewed food not so carefully.

Specialists note that this way of eating food also affects eating habits during the day.

The traditional Christmas table of the British "pulls" for about a thousand calories. Usually a roast turkey, sausages, minced meat, wrapped in bacon, vegetables, bread and a variety of sauces are served on the holiday.

But the festive dinner can not do without a sweet table, because you can easily add another 50000-4000 calories to a thousand calories. The sweet cake is served with a Christmas cake, pudding, cheese, biscuits, chocolate and sweets.

It should be noted that the daily rate of calories is 2,500 for men and 2,000 for women. Holidays, of course, relax both of them and often it leads to overeating.

Read also: In the overeating, the brain is to blame

Professionals were interested to learn how the thorough chewing of food can affect the habit of snacking after dinner, during the day.

To do this, they asked 43 people who participated in the study to refrain from eating two hours before the experiment.

Each subject was served with identical portions of smoked ham and cheese.

The first group of volunteers ate as usual, without changing their habits, the second group after eating food stopped for ten seconds before the next meal, and the third group chewed each piece for at least 30 seconds before swallowing.

Two hours after the experiment, all participants were offered chewy candy with a fruity taste and chocolate coated sweets.

While the participants enjoyed the taste of sweets, they were asked to evaluate their appetite and the pleasure they received from eating.

As a result, it turned out that those who ate at the usual speed and those who took breaks for ten seconds, ate the same number of sweets. But those participants, who had to thoroughly chew each piece, ate half the candy.

Participants from the third group told that the dinner did not bring them the expected pleasure. Scientists associate this with the novelty of sensations and the long process of chewing, which can reduce the taste of food. Nevertheless, this method of nutrition allows you to avoid snacks during the day, which do not always consist of healthy food.

Well, in general, everything is not so difficult, if you concentrate on what you eat, you can reduce the amount of food consumed, and thus save yourself from a set of extra pounds.

trusted-source[1], [2], [3]

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