Speed of eating 'key to obesity'?

The speed may be a factor, but I think the "key" to obesity is the QUANTITY of food consumed.

The slower you eat, the more broken down your food is so it becomes easier for food to be broken down in your stomach. That's how it was taught to me :)

I am the skinniest little shit around and I eat FAST...

I chow my food down, but I'm also 6'6 and by no means skinny!

Maybe if I inserted more 'Nom Nom Nom' noises inbetween mouthfuls I might not be such a porker...

I don't know...my roomate eats like 3500 calories a day and eats it all ridiculously fast...and he's skinny as hell.

i eat and i eat and i eat,
but i spin and i spin and i spin,
and so far i have droped more than 30 pounds.

You don't feel full for 10-20 minutes from when you start eating. In that time you could shove a whole hamburger and large fries and still have time to crave more. I try to eat slowly, set my fork down occasionally, and enjoy every bite. A meal without enjoyment is a complete shame.

well fuck, ive been speed eating since 78. even when i eat vegetables its like a race against myself. i always wondered why i have such a buddha belly

I always have noticed that fit and slender people tend to eat slowly and enjoy food more...Just one more reason to join the slow food movement..Taste every bite and enjoy your food!

i agree...i need to slow down a bit, but sometimes i'm just too damn hungry

This is at least true for me. I've learned that if I want to eat more of something, I should eat it fast. The slower I eat, the harder it'll be for me to finish. Hence, my once, size 4 ass, is now a size 8. I have got to slow down....oh, and I guess get off the couch too.

That's all well and good but American society isn't set up like this. We are so busy...we run around like crazy people shoving food in when and where we can.

I think they like us fat.

Heh Im always the last person to finish eating when Im out with friends. Hell even just sitting at my desk at work it usually takes me about 45 minutes to finish. I think its partly me just naturally being a slow eater and also be just really enjoying food and savoring it hehe.

I do agree that the speed of eating has a direct correlation to the amount of food you intake and therefor could effect weight (if the food youre eating is unhealthy to begin with. stuffing yourself on steamed veggies probably wont cause too much trouble heh). If youre just woofing it down you wont realize when youre full until its too late because youre eating faster than youre digesting. Whereas if you slowly indulge you'll notice when youre full and call it quits before you over stuff.

Everything is faster now-a-days, and eating is definately a key factor....we need to sit and eat healthy!

I'm sure there are lots of other factors involved too.

Dear America:
Stop eating like pigs.
Thanks.

O man thats really good to know and I think that the studies have a good degree of validty. I have experience this first hand myself, the faster I eat the more I want but thats just me.

I'm the slowest eater in the worrrrrrld, and I'm fairly thin, so this makes sense to me.

It takes the brain the same amount of time to receive the "full" signal from the stomach no matter what speed you eat, so if you eat really fast, that's that much more food you're putting into your body between when your stomach is full and your brain is telling you to stop.

when i have the munchies i eat a ridiculous amount of food in a ridiculously short amount of time. the next day im on the crapper 3 times before noon. i like my high...metabolism.

That makes so much sense... like they said, it takes a long time for the brain to register "full" and in that time, a person could overeat. Once a person overeats, their stomach adjusts to the amount going in there, and over time, if they aren't having the amount they had before that was excessive at the time, they feel hungry!

Just stop eating all the foods that has a LOT of fat in it, or just exercise..

I'm not sure eating quickly would be the only cause for obesity. It might help that when you eat quickly, your body doesn't feel full right away, so you can pack in more food. And if you're the type of person who eats quickly, you might be the kind of person that tries to juggle a crazy schedule and can't find time to get exercise or eat healthy food quickly.

I hope that speed eating isn't directly linked to obesity, because I tend to wolf things down.

It may be a factor but I eat at light speed and have been skinny all my life.