My fiancée often tells me I eat way too fast. Maybe I do so because I've always privately admired the great white shark's ability to roll its eyes back into its head, take a huge bite, and then swallow its food whole. Or maybe I do so because my fiancée just happens to be an anesthesiologist and I am secretly aware that the Heimlich maneuver and other airway-clearing techniques are but an urgent tap on the arm away.
Well, now it turns out that my true enemy may not be choking, but the slow, silent killer that is weight gain. According to a column in the New York Times:
Researchers have found evidence over the years that when people wolf their food, they end up consuming more calories than they would at a slower pace. One reason is the effect of quicker ingestion on hormones.
The piece, which is worth reading, cites research in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and the British Medical Journal to support its rather disheartening thesis.
In all, rather damning evidence that I should treat a dim sum brunch as a marathon instead of a sprint.
Photo by bellamy.andrew
Via Well
