Staying Healthy
Mom was right: Don't wolf down your dinner
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Here's a simple way to try to control your weight: take more time to eat your meal. It's one of several strategies that appeared to help people in a study published online Feb. 12, 2018, by BMJ Open. Researchers analyzed about six years' worth of health insurance claims and doctor visit details for 60,000 Japanese men and women with type 2 diabetes. The doctor visits included questions about how quickly people ate their meals. People who ate slowly were 42% less likely to be obese than people who gulped down their food. The study was only observational and therefore can't prove that eating slowly caused weight loss, but other studies have reported similar findings. Also, it takes about 15 minutes after you start to eat for the "getting full" signals to reach your brain — and a person can eat a lot of calories in 15 minutes. So slow down and savor every bite. For more information, check out the Harvard Special Health Report 6-Week Plan for Healthy Eating (/swp).
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