Slow down and don’t eat too quickly, experts warn

Experts say the speed at which you eat your food is just as important as the kind of food you eat. There are risks when you eat too quickly. Food can get stuck, and you can eat too much because your brain cannot tell you to stop.

“It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to communicate to the brain through … hormonal signals that it’s full,” said Leslie Heinberg at the Centre for Behavioural Health at the Cleveland Clinic in the US. “When people eat [too fast], they can miss these signals, and it is easy to eat beyond the point of fullness.”

Heinberg said that those who eat too quickly are likely to swallow more air. That swallowed air can lead to bloating or indigestion.