TechoCrunch

Eating healthy food doesn’t necessary means you have a healthy living. One of problems of today’s lifestyle is that many of us we rush to almost anything. We don’t seem to have any time for the little things that matters the most, especially during the lunch or dinner time when we end-up gobbling just like monkeys.

Eating slow = healthier lifestyle. Its really simple method to do drastic improvements to your life. You may have already heard of the Slow Food Movement in Italy to combat the evils of fast food, started way back in the 80’s.

Just spare a few extra minutes on each meal, enjoy eating. There are numerous benefits of eating slowly is reduced intake of food and, therefore, weight loss, which has its own health benefits, eating slow is a must GTD for people suffering with diabetes, arthritis, low blood pressure and hundreds of other diseases related to food and stress.

Here are 7 great benefits of eating slowly:

Better digestion. If you eat slower, you’ll chew your food better, which will lead to digestion! it’s a basic science thing. Digestion begins in the mouth, where the saliva is mixed with the food and starts to break it down into smaller parts and its much easier for the stomach to digest. When food is swallowed it whole it gets more difficult for the stomach to digest the contents which leads to digestive problems.

Taste and enjoy your food. While eating slowly, you end up tasting your food more. Eating slowly lets you smell the flavors, textures and smells of the food you eat. Eating food becomes a much interesting experience. For example a pizza tastes likes a pizza, but why not enjoy the flavors off the melting cheese, the tomatoes etc, think the pizza is something sexy!

Lose weight. Do you know just by eating slower, you’ll consume fewer calories — reason is that it takes about 15-20 minutes for our brains to register that we’re full. For those who eat fast, in 20minutes god knows how much calories they will take. If we eat slowly, we end up realizing we’re full, and stop on time.

Quality versus Quantity. Slow eating is the first step towards a healthier living. Fast eaters are more prone to consume “junk” and “fast” foods. Slow eating directly influences your eating habits, junk and fast foods takes few minutes to finish , but a good healthy meal with the pulses, veges, salads etc will take a great deal of time to complete. Just say no to fast food next time you are really in a hurry, you can take instead couple of glasses of milk or maybe some fruit juice.
Reduces stress. Eating slowing we enjoy food, feeling the flavors, having a great conversation while eating etc these things are great mind exercise. Fast eaters tend to think about what he need to do next, making himself unhealthy, stressed out, and unhappy. Slow eating is a great way to build up your concentration.

Heartburn & Gastroesophageal reflux. Rapid eating may cause acid reflux. It may be especially true for people suffering from GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease).

If it can’t help you it won’t hurt you! Last not the least slow eating rate doesn’t have any negative effects on your health, but can bring you a number of benefits without extra cost.

These aren’t the only benefits that slow eating gives us, I have just scraped the surface. Please let me know how eating slowly has benefited your life and please do send in your tips and comments.

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Pranjal