As a general rule, a meal in less than 30 minutes rarely limits intake by unconscious intervention of the brain. That’s why, to lose weight, you have to eat slowly.
There is a natural braking system against overeating: the signal of satiety which warns the brain that the stomach is full. It is unfortunately a too late signal, which pushes to gorge. Not too long ago, the French spent twice as much time at the table as the Americans. The new generations tend to adopt the same rhythm as them… as well as their obesity epidemic.
To limit the intake of food, nature has therefore all cleverly equipped us with what is called the signal of “satiety”. We could use more understandable synonyms like “signal of satiation, satisfaction, or saturation”, but it is a term that you will often encounter in most articles on the subject. The satiety signal is an order from the brain that decides that we have eaten too much.
If the hunger signal, which depends on our level of sugar in the blood, is quite precise, and above all very fast, the one that decides on the end of the festivities is quite slow and complex. It works quite well from birth, but becomes disrupted as it ages. Consequence: the satisfaction that signals the end of a meal only occurs when more food has been taken than necessary, probably because this signal is too late. Perhaps a remnant of our archaic adaptability to starvation?
20 minutes, not enough time
This delay, which can be evaluated between 10 and 20 minutes, is that of all the dangers, whereas it is enough to wait to see disappear, as if by magic, the irrepressible desire to refill. The management of this signal of satiety also militates for the composition of the meal in three parts: starter, main course, dessert. And not: single main dish, which, while waiting for its preparation, is the best ally of taking “bread and butter”, a great classic of lunchtime restaurants.
Concretely, before giving in to the temptation to take a share of a dish, you have to wait at least 10 minutes. If that’s not possible, vegetables or salad are a second best.
Eating slowly helps digestion. Keeping food longer in the mouth means giving the teeth a chance, which are there not only to make the smile charming but to tear, grind and knead. This will prevent the stomach from doing this when its real job is to bombard the porridge sent through the mouth, teeth and saliva with acid.
Appreciate food better
Eating slowly finally means enjoying food better, which is not a small advantage when you eat less.
This is not a medical observation, but take a good look around you: most skinny people are sadly slow at the table. The pea test speaks for itself. Put a plate of peas in front of the guests and watch the first gesture. The thin one takes the fork and the fat one, if he has the possibility, the spoon; otherwise, he uses a piece of bread. The lean man eats his peas almost one by one; the big one “pushes” them, raising the plate.