Lifeline
Savor the flavor
Eating at a more leisurely pace, what some call mindful eating, may help you eat less, says the Harvard Heart Letter.
Thanksgiving kicks off the eating season that stretches until Super Bowl Sunday. It can be a daunting time for anyone trying to lose weight or keep from adding any pounds. University of Rhode Island researchers have a suggestion: Slow down.
To test the long-held notion that eating deliberately can help cut calories, the researchers asked 30 volunteers to have lunch twice in a nutrition lab. Each time the menu was the same — small ditalini pasta with garlic and tomato sauce. On one visit, the volunteers were asked to eat quickly, and used a soup spoon to scoop up the food. On the other visit, they were asked to eat slowly with a teaspoon, taking a break between mouthfuls, and chewing each one 20 to 30 times.
When eating slowly, the volunteers took nearly 30 minutes to finish the meal, compared to 10 minutes when they ate quickly. They also consumed 10 percent less food and drank more water when eating slowly (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, July 2008).
The idea behind eating slowly makes sense. It takes time for the stomach’s “I’m getting full” signal to reach the brain, and slowing the pace of a meal may improve communication between stomach and brain.
Is this a sure-fire method for calorie control? No. It may work for folks who like the idea of a slower-paced meal. For those who aren’t so patient, though, it could backfire — frustration with this method just might lead to eating more!
Slowing down between servings is definitely a good idea. Taking a 10-minute break after your first helping at Thanksgiving dinner or at a buffet gives your stomach time to “talk” with your brain.
It also pays to beware of beverages. Drinking water with your meal can help you feel full faster and keep you from downing unneeded calories. In fact, it’s possible that the extra water the Rhode Island volunteers took in when eating slowly may have been a reason they ate less. Go easy on sugared soda or juice.
Power of potassium
When it comes to fighting high blood pressure, the average American diet delivers too much sodium and too little potassium. Eating to reverse this imbalance could prevent or control high blood pressure and translate into fewer heart attacks, strokes, and deaths from heart disease (Journal of Clinical Hypertension).
Most Americans get barely half of the recommended amount of potassium — 4,700 milligrams (mg) a day. Fruits, vegetables beans, and some seeds offer good ways to get more of it. Bananas (about 425 mg of potassium in a medium-sized one) are often held up as the poster child for potassium, but there are better sources. A medium-sized baked potato with the skin delivers nearly 1,000 mg. Halibut, raisins, acorn squash, watermelon, and milk are also good sources.
— Harvard Heart Letter
