There is a natural braking system against overeating: the satiety signal that alerts the brain that the stomach is full. Unfortunately, it is too late a signal that pushes to binge. 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.
Recognizing that you eat more than you need is a simple but fundamental step in healing, much less easy to implement than you might think. Because it seems that overeating is a habit that has been carried in us for a long time. The dawn of time? with regard to our genes which have been “trained” to lack and its consequences: savings and storage in the form of fat.
The satiety signal
Eating more and more is above all a bad habit, which progresses extremely slowly and insidiously. To limit food intake, nature has cleverly endowed us with what is called the “satiety” signal. You could use more understandable synonyms like “signal of fullness, satisfaction, or saturation”, but it is a term that you will often come across in most articles on the subject. The satiety signal is a command from the brain that decides when you have eaten too much.
If the hunger signal, which depends on our blood sugar level, is quite precise, and above all very fast, the one that decides to stop the festivities is quite slow and complex. It works pretty well from birth but gets confused as you get older. Consequence: the satisfaction that signals the end of a meal only occurs when we have taken more food 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, while it is enough to wait to see disappear, as by magic, the irrepressible urge to refill yourself. The management of this satiety signal also militates for the composition of the meal in three parts: starter, main course, dessert. And not: single main course, which, while waiting to be prepared, is the best ally for taking “bread and butter”, a great classic of midday restaurants.
Concretely, before giving in to the temptation to take back part of a dish, you must wait at least 10 minutes. If that’s not possible, vegetables or salad are a stopgap.
There is scientific evidence to say that those who eat slowly gain less weight: by eating slowly, you eat less. The study, named after its author, Melanson, in 2006, found that people who eat slowly consume an average of 67 calories less, which is approximately 10% less!
Eating slowly helps digestion. Keeping food in the mouth longer is giving the teeth a chance, which is not just there to make the smile charming but to tear, grind and knead. This will prevent the stomach from doing it when its real role is to bombard the porridge sent through the mouth, teeth and saliva with acid.
Better enjoy food
Eating slowly means finally enjoying food more, which is no small advantage when you eat less.
It’s not a medical finding, but take a good look around: most skinny people are sorry for being slow at the table. The peas test speaks volumes. Put a plate of peas in front of the guests and watch the first gesture. The lean takes the fork and the fat one, if he has the possibility, the spoon; if not, he helps himself with a piece of bread. The skinny one eats his peas almost one by one; the fat one “pushes” them, lifting the plate. Genetics in medicine are often supplemented by imitation. If we talk, we move like our parents. This is not because the morphology is identical, but quite simply because they are imitated. At the table too. In the composition of the menus, but also in the holding of the cutlery.
Numbers of the day: meal times
In France :
According to Credoc*, the duration of the meals remains stable.
Breakfast on weekdays: 18 minutes
Breakfast on weekends: 22 minutes
Dinner on weekdays: 33 minutes
Weekend dinner: 43 minutes
There are twice as many dinners over half an hour in the southwest than in the north, but far fewer heart attacks.
* Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions
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