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Can Chewing More Help Control Weight? Obesity epidemic has been a headache for both developed and developing countries around the world. People who are overweight or obese are at a very high risk of getting many health disorders including heart disease, Type-2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke and even certain kind of cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than a third of American adults are obese. A study conducted in 2010 by Brookings Institute estimated that the economic cost of obesity in the United States to be more than $200 billion per year. Theoretically, losing weight is not a very difficult task. To maintain a healthy weight, one just needs to monitor and consume the exact amount of calories required by the body: no more no less. But in reality, this has never been an easy task for most people, not to mention those who are overweight or obese. That is why all sorts of methods and gadgets are available in the market claiming to help people lose weight, thought many of these are just trying to suck your money away. Recently, researchers from Harbin Medical University in China reported that people who chew their food more times would reduce their calories intake, which might help them control their weight. Their findings were published online on July 20, 2011 in the ‘American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition’. Participants who chewed food 40 times instead of the typical 15 times consumed nearly 12 percent less calories (less food), which also means that these people would lose nearly 25 pounds in a year.
This was not the first study to explore the link between obesity and chewing. In fact, a few previous studies had found eating faster and chewing less were associated with obesity but others did not find any link. In the study, a typical breakfast was given to 14 obese young men and 16 young men of normal weight to see whether there were differences in how they chewed their food. The study also examined if chewing more would lead participants to eat less and if it would affect blood sugar levels or certain hormones that regulate appetite. Results showed that the amount of chewing was related to levels of several hormones that signal the brain when to begin and stop eating. More chewing was linked to lower blood levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite and higher level of CCK, a hormone believed to decrease appetite. Regulating levels of these hormones might help people control their weight, and so these hormones might represent useful targets for future obesity therapies. However, the study did not find any difference between the size of bites taken by men who were obese or of normal weight and any link between chewing duration and blood sugar or insulin levels in any of the men. As the study was small and involved only young men, it did not necessarily predict how extended chewing would affect the calorie intake of other people. Nevertheless, the relationship between eating behavior and obesity is worth studying further to aid the slowing of a growing health problem worldwide. The new study has no doubt highlighted a simple way to limit food intake, but the question is: can chewing more really help control weight? Some health professionals are not too sure whether this is a viable obesity prevention measure, though they do agree that chewing more bite of food 100 times or more would definitely end up eating less. For a person of normal weight, the basic principle to control weight is simple: adopt a healthy diet and have regular exercise. The crucial point is how strict this person can adhere to it. Those who are overweight or obese should always seek help from qualified health professionals and doctors who can suggest the most appropriate and safest method without jeopardizing their health.
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