If you live a fast-paced day-to-day life and struggle to fit everything in during the day, chances are you steal some time between your responsibilities so you can cook. Maybe it’s a five-minute break from work where you unwrap yesterday’s half-baked burger or the banana you snacked on in the car after the gym.
However, this haste in your eating habits, apart from causing accidents, can also lead to health problems that can be avoided if you slow down and pay more attention.
Why is slow eating important?
You enjoy eating more
Of course, the food you take the time to eat and not just cook is tastier because by chewing the food, you can process all the flavors in your mouth and enjoy it, which will make you happier!
You promote digestion
Rapid absorption of food can cause indigestion heartburn, which is not necessarily a good thing. Digestion begins in the mouth, so by chewing a bite often, you break it into smaller pieces and make your stomach work less and easier.
If you have such a goal, it helps you lose weight
Somewhere in my mind, the phrase “Madonna chews every bite 50 times, that’s why she’s so thin” is etched in my mind, of course, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t verify it. Here comes some research to confirm the urban myth about Madonna! One of these requests, surveyed nearly 60,000 people in Japan and examined their eating habits. The result of the study showed that people who eat slowly are 42% less likely to suffer from obesity than those who eat fast. Those who ate at a normal pace had 29% less.
It’s a great opportunity to practice mindfulness
There are never enough opportunities to practice mindfulness, but you can use the daily habit of eating to focus on what you see, smell, and taste instead of thinking about how busy you are and what you have to do. to do when you put the last bite in your mouth.
How can I eat more slowly?
Do not eat while standing
If you want to change the way you prepare your meals, one of the first things you should change. You can set up a place to eat at the office or at home, and it’s pretty and put together enough to inspire you to sit there for a few minutes. Standing will make you feel rushed, and since it’s awkward to stand, hold a plate, and try to eat at the same time, you do it as quickly as you can to “mix it up.”
Try counting your teeth
At least measure your bites until you get used to eating slowly. It will also depend on how many times you eat, for example, if you eat meat, you can count 40 times before swallowing your bite, but if you eat lettuce, you will definitely need less. Of course, you don’t have to do this all your life, but until you get used to eating more slowly and consciously.
Put the fork down between bites
It’s not a big step, but it takes some time to put the fork down and pick it up again, if only a little. Also, eating with a smaller fork is beneficial because you will take smaller bites whether you like it or not.
Don’t starve yourself
When you’re very hungry, it doesn’t make sense to hold back and rush to eat, so if you’re feeling a little hungry, but it’s not time to eat your meal yet, eat a small snack to ease the feeling.