Eat Fast, Get Fat

Scarfing food down like a starving mutt can make you one pudgy pooch: Men who eat faster put on extra pounds over time, a new Japanese study reports.

The study followed nearly 530 men over 8 years. Even among guys with the same starting body mass index, men who reported at the beginning of the study that they were fast eaters gained the most weight over time. Fast eaters gained an average of 4.2 pounds during the study, while slow eaters gained only 1.5 pounds.

You've probably heard that fast eating is associated with being heavier, but this is the first time a study has showed that fast eaters actually gain more weight.

Why? “When eating delicious food, we tend to eat faster. This is true whether a person is thin or fat,” says Diana Williams, Ph.D, assistant professor in the department of psychology at Florida State University. Evidence shows that overweight people have a greater desire for high-fat, high-sugar foods. So fast eating might in part be the byproduct of eating junk food, which could explain the weight gain.

Your body also needs time to register hunger. The intestines release hormones to the brain that say “I’m full!” in response to nutrients, Williams explains. But it takes about 20 minutes for your body to register how full you are, says Milton Stokes, R.D., owner of One Source Nutrition.

One tip: Take a sip of water after every single bite—putting down your utensils to do so. It'll slow you down and keep you hydrated. That's just one of our 4 Ways to Eat Slower.

For more ways to lose your gut, read these 18 Fat-Fighting Food Strategies.

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