The Pace of Eating

In a prior post I raised a question to myself about the rate of consumption and feeling satiated. What I was trying to understand was this: If I eat quickly will I end up eating more because my body needs time to kick in the full feeling (humm.. what causes the "full feeling" anyhow) and if so, will slowing down my intake cause me to eat less?

Googling "eating slowly" almost universally shows posts, studies, etc. attempting to convince the reader that eating slowly and taking ones time with meals is a good weight management technique. Forum reading suggests that for some people it works and some it doesn't. Even those who do find it useful seem unclear as to why. One study I ran across suggested that taking longer to eat also allows more time for fluid consumption, e.g. water and that the extra fluid consumption is driving, at least in part, the reduction in actual calories ingested.

On the opposite front is this MSNBC post from Barbara Rolls of Volumetrics fame. While Barbara's article suggests that eating pace doesn't influence caloric intake, she does end with this sage advice:

You don’t have to consciously pause between bites, but eat at a pace that maximizes your enjoyment of the food. If savoring the flavors and textures makes dining a more pleasurable experience, then go for it.

In the end, it’s more important that you choose foods that are low in calorie density, meaning they give you fewer calories per bite. That way no matter what your eating rate, you won’t take in too many calories.

My take on it is this: If eating slowly works for you then go for it, but it's what you eat not the pace at which you eat that matters most.