Chew More, Eat Less?
More than a third of American adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Obesity is an important risk factor for a number of health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. A 2010 study from the Brookings Institution estimated the economic cost of obesity in the U.S. to be over $200 billion per year.
Now, a new study suggests that lifestyle changes as simple as chewing food more may help people take in fewer calories.
In the past many studies have explored the connection between obesity and chewing, with mixed results. Recently, researchers in China have come out with new findings. The team found a connection between the amount of chewing and levels of several hormones that “tell the brain when to begin to eat and when to stop eating,” said co-author Shuran Wang in an email.
Those who chewed more produced lower levels of appetite stimulating hormone and higher levels of appetite reducing hormone.
Chewing food 40 times instead of a typical 15 times caused study participants to eat nearly 12 percent fewer calories, according to results published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This 12 percent reduction in calories could lead to significant weight loss – up to 25 pounds a year by the calculations of an American obesity specialist. Still, some experts warn that you shouldn’t start chewing food 100 times or more to lose weight.
The study is limited (for instance, all participants were men), but the results are an interesting look into how the ways we eat our meals affect our waistlines.
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