Tuesday
Jul212009
Tue, July 21, 2009 | Lisa Barger Chewing More to Lose Weight
“Does chewing your food more really help you lose weight?”
Actually, it seems to. To be more correct, chewing your food slowly seems to make you feel fuller with less food. In fact, there was a new study in the June issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that (once again) found that people who ate smaller bites of food and chewed them thoroughly actually felt fuller and ate less at any given sitting.
How does this work? Well, it seems to have a lot to do with something called oral processing time, or OPT. Basically, OPT refers to the amount of time you spend working the food around in your mouth. Longer OPT means less food is eaten by the end of the meal.
Food texture is also important. Foods that feel “fatty” in our mouths are generally more satisfying than non-fatty foods and foods that are more “solid” are more satisfying than softer, mushier foods.
Does this mean that losing weight is as simple as chewing crunchy, fatty foods? Common sense should tell us, “No,” but incorporating certain foods into a reduced-calorie meal might help some people eat a little bit less. It’s definitely worth talking over with your doctor.
References:
Zijlstra, N., et al. (2009). Effect of bite size and oral processing time of a semisolid food on satiation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Rolls, E. (2008). Functions of the orbitofrontal and pregenual cingulate cortex in taste, olfaction, appetite and emotion. Acta Physiologica Hungarica.
Actually, it seems to. To be more correct, chewing your food slowly seems to make you feel fuller with less food. In fact, there was a new study in the June issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that (once again) found that people who ate smaller bites of food and chewed them thoroughly actually felt fuller and ate less at any given sitting.
How does this work? Well, it seems to have a lot to do with something called oral processing time, or OPT. Basically, OPT refers to the amount of time you spend working the food around in your mouth. Longer OPT means less food is eaten by the end of the meal.
Food texture is also important. Foods that feel “fatty” in our mouths are generally more satisfying than non-fatty foods and foods that are more “solid” are more satisfying than softer, mushier foods.
Does this mean that losing weight is as simple as chewing crunchy, fatty foods? Common sense should tell us, “No,” but incorporating certain foods into a reduced-calorie meal might help some people eat a little bit less. It’s definitely worth talking over with your doctor.
References:
Zijlstra, N., et al. (2009). Effect of bite size and oral processing time of a semisolid food on satiation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Rolls, E. (2008). Functions of the orbitofrontal and pregenual cingulate cortex in taste, olfaction, appetite and emotion. Acta Physiologica Hungarica.
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