Weight Loss 101: Slow Things Down

When it comes to weight loss, we often hear about the need to speed things up – train faster, train harder, train with more intensity and pace to burn as many calories and as much fat as possible. Well, research actually suggests slowing down may be a beneficial way to lose weight, too, in at least one circumstance: while eating.

Researchers compared nearly 60,000 type 2 diabetics in a study designed to determine whether eating speed was connected to weight (excess weight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, among other health problems). All participants self-reported themselves as fast, normal speed or slow eaters. Based on these classifications and periodic checkups during the six-year study period, the researchers discovered that normal-speed eaters were 29 percent more likely to be obese compared to slow eaters. Fast eaters were even more likely to be obese: 42 percent more likely compared to slow eaters.

While the study, published in BMJ Open, does not establish a causal relationship between eating speed and obesity (meaning eating speed did not necessarily cause obesity), the authors emphasize that people who eat faster may end up eating more than slower eaters because the former don’t realize they’re full until they’ve overconsumed. Talk to your doctor for more information about dietary and exercise factors linked to weight gain (and weight loss), and how to pursue a balanced lifestyle conductive to a healthy weight.