Eating too fast? Slow down!

I have a habit: eating too fast. I never notice that how long it takes to eat my meal but I am always the first one to finish my meal. It is common that my stomach feel so heavy because of eating too fast. And sometimes I eat so fast that I even feel a little headache and unable to think. I know it must be a bad habit which will must do harm to my health in a long run. So today I want to learn more about the harm of eating too fast and how to change it.

eating-fast_1picture is found here

First, I found a study which presents eating more quickly may be a factor in the development of Type 2 diabetes.The study is held in 2012 in Florence, Italy. Lithuanian researchers, including Lina Radzeviciene, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist asked subjects to fill out a questionnaire about how quickly they ate compared with those around them (their choices were faster, the same and slower). And what they discovered is that “participants who said that they ate “faster” were 2.5 times as likely to have type 2 diabetes as those who said that they ate “slower.”” There are 234 adults with diabetes and 468 without.

It is an observational study which shows the correlation between eating too fast and diabetes.But in this study, we may not rule out the third variables since the study is neither large enough nor randomly, the data did not consider gender, age. The subjects are all only picked in a European country and the conclusion is rely on their own answer which lacks scientific mechanism for measuring eating speed. Reverse causation seems to be impossible, but “it could be that some underlying trait, such as some hormonal effect, leads independently to both a ravenous appetite and diabetes.”

Although this study might have a lot of limitations, I found a mechanism may explain how eating too fast causes diabetes. After meals, blood sugar levels go up. If it is too high that may injure blood vessels and nerves, which will cause diabetes. And people need enough insulin to manage the carbohydrates they eat, so that it can make blood sugar in a normal level. The fast you eat,the faster sugars will get into your blood because body’s insulin do not have enough time to catch up. And it will become a negative feedback loop, which finally may cause the type2 diabetes. But as mentioned in class, mechanism is not always crucial to know and the insulin produced may be influenced by the third variables but not only the speed you eat.

fwx-man-eating-fast picture is found here

Except the potential correlation between eating too fast and diabetes, there are other negative effect of eating too fast. For instance, you might eat too much because your brain need time to recognize that you had enough food. Overeat causes obesity, which has long been recognized as one of the main causes of the illnesses.  So, it is time to change your eating habit, if you always found you are the first one finish meals on the table like me, maybe you should think about slowing down. Enjoy your time having delicious food and the time spent with your friends and families.

If you want to learn more about why you shouldn’t eat too fast:

 

3 thoughts on “Eating too fast? Slow down!

  1. Catherine Mott

    This is an interesting blog because i have always felt a stomach ache coming on after eating my food too fast. It gets tangled up in my insides, and it gets hard to digest. Additionally, my dad got diabetes later in life and maybe it is possible that he got it from eating too much and eating too fast. You stated “After meals, blood sugar levels go up. If it is too high that may injure blood vessels and nerves, which will cause diabetes.” This is an interesting statement because its something you never real think about. Usually after i eat, i am so full i never want to move. But when i eat too fast, i feel it, and it makes me wan to get up and walk around. You also said there could be a potential correlation between eating too fast and diabetes and i think it would be interesting to see a blog that proves this. Overall interesting topic and nice blog!

  2. azb5768

    I found your blog interesting because i can relate to this and so can some of my family members. Whenever i go home i tend to devour my moms food because ive missed it so much. But then i feel very bloated and sick. There have even been occasions where i ate so much and so fast i puked it all because my brain never got the time to tell me i was full. Never again have i gone that hard in eating. I try to pace myself and enjoy every bite because that is healthier for my body in the long run.
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/slow-down-you-eat-too-fast?page=1

  3. Elaina Blair

    I found your article very interesting because I actually have this problem too. I eat so fast and don’t even realize! My mom always yells at me for downing my food in record breaking time but I can’t help it! I always knew that eating too fast could cause weight gain because it generally takes your body a little bit of time to actually realize it’s finally full and alert the brain. So in the meantime, one will think they aren’t full yet and they will keep eating. However, I didn’t know that there were other negatives to eating too fast like diabetes! This article actually was very informative and I now walk away knowing a lot about what I have been actually doing to my body this whole time! Thanks for the video too it really helped me out!

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