When you are in a hurry and have a lot to do, sometimes stopping to eat can feel like an inconvenience and guzzling down your food as fast as possible to get back to the tasks of the day.

I must admit, this is an area I often struggle to keep on top of.

Eating too fast.

However, there are many reasons why you should look to take a few deep breaths and spend time consuming your meals.

Firstly, if you are someone who eats for the pleasure of the taste, after the first bite it is all downhill.

No bite will taste as good as that first one.

So, take your time and savour it. You might find that after that first taste you don’t need much more, and especially when it comes to ‘treats’ perhaps that one bite is all you will need to realize you can put it down now.

Second, the digestive process begins in the mouth.

Mixing saliva with your food in the mouth is the beginning of the process of breaking it down. Thus, if you hoover it past that point in the process you are missing out step one. As such, the subsequent stages of digestion will not work as well and you are less likely to properly digest the food, leaving you either bloated or un-nurtured.

Similarly, if you eat too quickly you are probably spending less time chewing, therefore the food is less broken down when it hits your gut, again hindering the digestive process.

There is an old proverb that says, “Drink your food, chew your drink”.

In other words, chew your food thoroughly enough to the point it is liquid and move liquid around in your mouth to thoroughly taste it (and mix with saliva) before swallowing.

Next is the communication issue – your body’s system can take up to 20mins to signal the brain that it is satisfied, so if you are eating too quickly you are most likely eating beyond the point of satiety.

As with all things to do with your health and fitness, take the time to listen to your body and act accordingly.

And lastly, assuming you are in company, it’s just good manners.

Put your fork down between bites; take your time; savour your food and extract all you can from it and you will feel better as a result.

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