Our fast-paced modern lives often rob us of time for basic activities like eating. Many of us grab something quick for breakfast on the way out of the house, or wolf down our lunch so we can gain a sliver more time to be productive at work, or to dedicate to our personal lives.
Beyond more philosophical reflections on our culture of haste, it is worth weighing up the impacts of eating too fast on our health. Have you ever experienced excessive gas? Do you often suffer from difficult, heavy digestion or bloating? How long since you paid attention to how hungry or full you actually feel?
Excess gas
With regard to the first of these problems, there is a condition that involves swallowing excessive amounts of air during and between meals, known as aerophagia. It can cause anything from mild discomfort and a feeling of heaviness and bloating to abdominal pain and distension (a visible increase in abdominal size after eating).
The normal amount of gas in the digestive tract when our stomachs are empty is around 200 ml. If this amount increases significantly, the physiological mechanisms for its expulsion can become very uncomfortable. This amount of air depends on the balance between the intake, production and elimination of gas through belching, flatulence or its consumption by the intestinal microbiota.
Eating quickly is one of the main factors in increasing both air intake and gas production, although chewing gum, smoking and alterations in the gut microbiota may also contribute.
Not chewing enough
When eating in a hurry we have less time to chew, meaning food reaches the stomach almost whole. More stomach acids are therefore needed to digest it properly. As well as requiring a greater metabolic effort, this also causes the uncomfortable feeling of heaviness and indigestion that accompanies rushed meals.
Another effect of not chewing enough – thus not allowing oral enzymes to do their work – is the absorption of food in the small intestine. Despite the stomach’s best efforts, unchewed food may reach the intestine without being sufficiently digested.
Not knowing when to stop
When it comes to sensations of hunger and fullness, the gut-brain axis comes into play – the brain is responsible for sending the signals that govern digestive processes, as well as making us eat or stop eating.
Two hormones regulate how full or hungry we feel – ghrelin triggers feelings of hunger, while leptin makes us feel full. Once we see, smell and start eating food, it takes 20-30 minutes for leptin to become active. This means that, when we eat too quickly, we ingest more than we actually need – leptin does not have enough time to kick in and tell us that we have had enough.
More serious consequences
Eating too quickly can have more severe repercussions for our health. Several studies show a relationship between the speed at which we eat and cardiovascular risk factors, elevated triglyceride levels and increased chances of developing metabolic syndrome (up to 59% higher), or becoming overweight or obese, especially among diabetics.
It is therefore definitely worth slowing down and taking a moment to enjoy a more leisurely breakfast, lunch or dinner. Chew slowly and pay attention to how full you feel. Invest a little time, and and it will pay dividends for your health.
Esther Martínez Miguel, Doctora en Ciencias de la Salud. Directora del Grado en Enfermería. Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Naturaleza, Universidad Nebrija and Silvia Gómez Senent, Médico de Aparato Digestivo. Directora del Máster en Microbiota Humana. Profesora en el Grado de Enfermería, Universidad Nebrija
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