much more likely to be overweight and obese than women who ate more slowly

A new study done on a group of women in New Zealand shows that the speed at which you eat your food has a direct correlation on how much you weigh! The researchers said that middle aged women who ate very quickly were much more likely to be overweight and obese than women who ate more slowly.

The research which was led by Dr Caroline Horwath from Otago University looked at the relationship between the eating speed and body mass index of over 1,500 New Zealand females between the ages of 40 and 50. Many women put on a lot of weight in this time of their life.

The study made allowances for physical activity, smoking, menopause and ethnic group but in all cases it was seen the eating speed was directly linked to a higher BMI.

Do you eat very fast? Are you always the first one to finish your food? Why not make a serious effort to slow down your eating speed. One way of doing this is to encourage conversation when you eat and to make meal times a more formal occasion with a complete ban on TV.

Try taking smaller mouthfuls and using smaller cutlery.  If you eat with a small knife, spoon and fork you will not be able to eat so fast and you will probably enjoy your meal much more.  It is usually stated that your stomach takes between ten and fifteen minutes to send messages to your brain that it is full up, so by eating slowly you are much less likely to overeat.

If you have a lovely meal in front of you it seems such a waste to eat it quickly because you will not get nearly as much pleasure out of it than if you eat slowly.  The Italian people who are famous for their food can confirm this and often use the expression - 'you don't grow old at table' to encourage people to slow down when they are eating.

Eating should be like sex... it is best to take your time over it!