If we want to eat less, eating more slowly is a valid strategy. In Japan they are investigating how to achieve it

Losing weight, or maintaining our weight under control is more than solving the simple calorie equation consumed against burned calories. Numerous more or less hidden factors can unbalance this balance, factors ranging from the metabolic to the sociological.

The other factors. A Japanese researchers team He has investigated in how factors such as the number of bites, the rhythms we perceive in our environment and gender affect the duration of food. The goal is to eat more slowly to make us easier to have our weight under our control.

Slowly. The idea of ​​stopping the rhythm with which we eat to eat less and be able to lose weight is not new but we can find it in guides and recommendations of More than a decade ago. It is not an infallible recipe, but According to expertsaid.

The logic behind has to do with how the stomach and other organs of the digestive system transmit information to the brain and how it processes it. This occurs in two ways: first through nerve impulses, and then through the chemical signal that some hormones transmit.

Replicating one of the hormonal signals that indicate that food has satiated us is precisely one of the mechanisms for which the consumption of Drugs like Ozempic makes us lose weight.

An aid. Now, even when we talk about a “trick” like this, say it is easier than doing so. That is why the new study has analyzed how different factors affect the speed with which we swallow food. And in this, men and women have differentiated guidelines.

“While the science of nutrition often deals with the metabolism and absorption of food, and dietary content, there are limited evidence in Japan that eating behavior connects both (points). This intrigue led me to study eating behavior, which involved gender differences,” pointed in a press release Katsumi Iizuka, co -author of the study.

33 participants. To put these ideas to the test, the team responsible for the study He put pizza portions to 33 participants, healthy adults between 20 and 65. They measured the number of bites and the times they already chewed what rhythm. They also used metronomes and headphones to induce more or less accelerated rhythms to check the response of the participants.

As expected, the team observed important differences in the habits of men and women: on average these took longer to eat their portion (87 seconds in front of the 63 d them men). They also chewed more (107 times against 80 on average) and took more bites (more than double).

Change the rhythm. However, gender was not the only factor that affected eating habit: rhythmic stimuli affected the time required to consume food. A 40 pulse tempo per minute (BPM) markedly elongated the duration of food compared to those who ate without rhythmic stimulation.

The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nutrients.

Facilitating work. Now, there are also reasons why being cautious when generalizing the results of the study. First, we must take into account the limited sample (33 participants). Second, also for the existence of cultural differences between our context and Japanese.

These differences both to gastronomic culture and gender differences between men and women and the way in which each society expects to behave when they eat in public.

Despite this, the results can help us design strategies to facilitate weight loss that best suits each person, taking into account, for example, their gender. The study can also allow us to know more about how changes in context can help us influence our eating behavior, such as using music with slow tempos to force more leisurely meals.

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