There is an ancient saying in India which says, “the more you chew, the less you weigh”. Elders always advise to chew the food well and eat slow. This ancient wisdom / fact has been verified by various researches across the world.

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association conducted a survey to find the association between the speed at which we eat and our weight. This study found that people who ate the quickest were more likely to be obese than slow eaters. And the faster people ate, the more their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) rose — 2.8 percent for each “step” increase on the five-step eating-speed scale (equivalent to an extra 4.3 pounds).

A 2008 Japanese study showed that people who eat quickly have a tripled risk of being overweight than people who eat slowly.

A study by Harbin Medical University, China has shown that people who chew their food up to 40 times per bite, lose weight easily and are less prone to getting obese. This is due to the fact that when you chew repeatedly, you give our digestive tract more time to absorb the food, initiating a quicker response of being full.

If you chew your food properly, you will be able to absorb the nutrients properly and make the digestion process much easier. Aside from that, chewing food slower and longer will cause the brain to release histamine, making you eat less. Hence, if you eat less, this will eventually lead to weight loss.

Another study suggests that chewing longer will decrease the release of ghrelin in the stomach. Ghrelin is also known as the hunger hormone which is produced in the stomach. If ghrelin is decreased, then you would feel less hungry and you will eat less.

Chewing your food properly will not only help in the digestion process but it can also effectively promote weight loss. Therefore, it is important to chew your food properly rather than eating it hastily.