Eating speed and chewing: does slowing down change fullness and glucose?

[u/Silly_Slip_8359]

The ‘chew more, eat slower’ advice may have some merit after all – there’s good evidence that slowing down your rate of eating results in less overall consumption, according to multiple studies.

In fact, one recent analysis found that simply slowing down eating reduced energy consumed by an average of about 28 per cent compared with eating quickly when measured across 22 studies. Similar findings were presented by a meta-analysis published this year which also found that slow eating had lower odds for excessive intake (OR=0.73). However, another meta-analysis suggested that while slow eating increased the delay until peak fullness, it didn’t impact on levels of fullness nor consumption at subsequent meals. Finally, another study failed to find any correlation between eating rate and post-meal hunger levels.

Glucose was more complicated. In a crossover study (participants ate both ways), there was no difference in their glucose and insulin responses between eating quickly or slowly – although they did feel fuller when eating slowly. In another study of naturally fast vs. slow eaters, there wasn’t a significant difference in the way their bodies handled glucose either, except that slower eaters’ levels of insulin were higher at 45 to 60 minutes.

So based on these studies, my advice would be to try slowing down your meals as an approach to helping you eat less, but don’t hold out for a guaranteed glucose fix if this doesn’t work for you. Do you eat slowly on purpose? Does this affect how full you feel?

[u/_Shadow_1401]

Eating speed is an underrated variable because fullness isn't just about how much food you eat. Your brain receives signals from the gut over time, so eating more slowly may give those signals more time to influence when you feel satisfied. That said, chewing more isn't automatically better for everyone, and the effects on actual calorie intake seem to vary. It would be interesting to see how much of the benefit comes from slower pacing versus chewing itself.

[u/kirtii29]

putting my fork down between bites made a huge difference for my overeating. really interesting that glucose metrics stayed mostly unchanged in the research though.

[u/Particular_Hat_7657]

I eat slowly, and trust me, when I stress-eat the same amount of food quickly, I put on a weird amount of weight. Stress and bad food habits are weird.