Why the Way You Chew May Affect Your Weight

As many experts note, digestion begins the moment food enters your mouth. Saliva helps soften and break it down, while your teeth cut it into smaller pieces so it can move more easily through the throat and into the stomach. Chewing well can naturally support digestion, and if you want to reduce heartburn or simply enjoy meals more, slowing down at the table can help.

Research also suggests that chewing style may influence weight management. When you eat mindfully, your brain has more time to catch up with your body's hunger and fullness signals. It can take around 20 minutes after food enters your mouth for the brain to recognize that you are full, according to WebMD. Slowing the pace between bites may help you respond better to those cues and avoid eating past comfort.

A 2017 study in BMJ Open that followed people with diabetes found that those who ate more mindfully felt full sooner and tended to have smaller waists and lower body mass index, or BMI. A separate 2013 study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics also found that people who did not rush through meals ate less.

The connection between slow eating and calorie burn

There is also evidence that the way you chew may affect how many calories your body burns. A 2014 study in the journal Obesity found that fewer chews and shorter meals were associated with lower diet-induced thermogenesis, or DIT, which is the rise in metabolic rate after eating. Similar results were reported in a 2021 study in Scientific Reports.

Professor Naoyuki Hayashi of Waseda University in Japan, who co-led the later study, said via Science Daily that DIT, or energy production, increased after a meal and rose with longer taste stimulation and more chewing time. The researchers added that taking time to chew properly may help support weight loss by reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health problems linked to cardiovascular disease, including obesity and hypertension.

With so much science pointing to mindful eating, how can someone who eats quickly change the habit? The shift may seem simple, but it often takes trial and error. Still, if weight loss is one of your goals, slowing down at meals may help.

How to practice slower chewing

Start by looking at your overall eating patterns. Do you often eat in front of the television? Do work deadlines push you to rush through meals? Do you snack while driving or answer emails at your desk?

To chew more slowly, it can help to separate meals from distractions. For some people, that means sitting at the table instead of eating in front of the TV. For others, it may simply mean paying closer attention to how many times each bite is chewed. Once you have a routine, you can try expert suggestions such as chewing each bite around 40 times, sipping water after each mouthful, or eating alongside someone who naturally eats slowly.

If those methods feel too artificial or take away from the enjoyment of food, nutritionist and author Jo Travers suggested another approach in The Guardian. Take a bite, then put down your fork or food until you have chewed and swallowed, before picking it up again. She explained that holding a forkful of food near your mouth can create a sense of urgency, which may make people feel they need to finish eating too quickly.