Four reasons to eat your food slower

Eating your food slower than may do so right now is nothing new. The Slow Food Movement which started about 20 years ago in Italy by Carlo Petrini has been sharing the message of opposing fast food and eating slower, and science shows it may have some significant health benefits.

The opposite of “fast food” in preparation as well as consumption, slow food eating is all about taking your time, avoiding the rush and also avoiding health problems.

Here are five reasons to eat your food slower:

- Feel fuller when eating less. Some studies show that eating slower will allow you to chew properly, consume less calories and get fuller more faster therefore eating less and resulting in no extra weight gain. Whether this is just psychological or has an actual effect on our digestive system, I’m still not decided.

- Avoid indigestion. Fast eating can sometimes result in slower processes in the body as your food can clog up and cause indigestion or gas. If you eat slower, you chew more fully. The more work you do in the chewing in your mouth, the less problems in the stomach.

- Take time to enjoy your food. Eating is an art. When you eat slower, you take the time to enjoy the tastes and spices that are used in preparing your food. It’s a whole new way of living and opposes the fast food life and culture that is places like McDonalds and Burger King. Eating is a way of tasting life itself.

- Eating can be stress relieving. Take the time to eat slowly and you’ll find that your body has time to calm down and avoid the stressful life it may otherwise be living in. When you put your mind and heart to enjoying the food you’ve created, you allow yourself to be stress free. Be in the moment.

Go on, give slower eating a try. Let me know how you find it.