Chewing has long been part of any foundational program for optimizing digestive function. Now, it’s also been shown that chewing your food can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
Eat Quickly, Get Fat and Develop Diabetes
Obesity has long been recognized as one of the main causes of illness, particularly diabetes. Previous studies have found that people who eat quickly also eat more, and consequently, are more likely to gain weight and be overweight. Part of the reason is that eating quickly does’t give the digestive system enough time to send a signal to the brain that it is full; as a result, they overeat.
Now, researches have found that people that eat quickly are 2.5 times (250%) more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D); this research was presented at the International Congress of Endocrinology and European Congress of Endocrinology in Florence, Italy. An interesting aspect of this study is that they showed that this trend existed even once they accounted for other causes including obesity, smoking, diet and family history of T2D. This means that eating quickly over time was linked to a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes, regardless of whether a person was overweight or had a family history of T2D.
This means that in addition to making good food choices and increasing exercise, people that want to reduce their risk of developing T2D need to slow down and chew their food – a LOT! We recommend that every person chews every mouthful of food at LEAST 30 times before swallowing; a good rule of thumb is that the food in your mouth should be a liquid (and body temperature) before swallowing.
As an added benefit, you will actually get to enjoy your food, as well as your dining companions!