The Consequences of Eating too Fast and How to Correct it

Eating too fast is a serious issue and has detrimental consequences to your digestive system! When you don’t take the time to fully swallow each bite before taking the next bite, that’s when you know you may be eating to fast! If you are a fast eater, you probably aren’t even aware that you are taking 4-5 fork fulls of food in the time it takes a normal paced eater to take one.

The whole digestion process starts in your mouth in the chewing phase. It is really important to actually chew! We should be chewing at least 20-25 times per forkful.

The following digestive problems occur when we eat too fast:

• We delay the feeling of fullness when we eat too fast. Therefore we tend to overeat.
• It is harder for our digestive system to function properly, resulting in poor digestion, including indigestion and heartburn.
• It increases the chances for experiencing indigestion and heartburn.
• Causes the gut to contract, sending you to the restroom almost immediately after eating, a sign of poor digestion, since it means you are not breaking down the foods enough to absorb the necessary nutrients.
• Weak digestion leads to a weak immune system, which leaves you susceptible to illnesses.

Improve your digestive health simply by eating slooowwweeeerrrrr.

Eating is supposed to be a mindful event. Fast eaters miss not only the nutrition in their food, but also the leisure of taking the time out to relax and improve their wellbeing. Perhaps not coincidentally, fast eaters are often guilty eaters, who feel that food is at fault for making them fat, and that they need to quickly sneak their meals because they are doing something wrong. Ironically, it may be the speed at which they eat it which is actually at fault!

Enjoy your food slowly and stay healthier. Here’s how:

• Stop and take a deep breath before eating a meal. Be mindful and remind yourself to pay attention to your breathing and the pace at which you eat.
• Eat at a table, away from the TV or computer (which tend to contribute to overeating.)
• Eat in a quiet, relaxing environment and never eat when you are upset or after (or during!) an argument.
• Make sure you chew and swallow your food before putting the next bite in your mouth. Set your fork down between each bite to train yourself.
• Make sure you are actually tasting the food. Try to notice how the taste changes during the eating process. What is the aftertaste? How is the initial taste? Focus.
• Take smaller bites. Try to count to 30 while chewing.
• Try to figure out why you speed eat and / or overeat. For example, many fast eaters grew up competing with a sibling for food. Eat it now, or it’s gone later. Many carry this with them into adulthood.

Some Benefits of eating slower:

• You will begin to enjoy and favor healthier, whole foods as most commercial and processed foods are engineered in such a way to only taste appealing in the first few bites.
• All the stomach aches and things that “didn’t agree” with you may disappear.
• A trimmer waistline.
• Stronger body from better absorbed nutrients

Eating slower is a simple, healthy habit that can be easily learned, improving health and disease prevention factors tenfold. If you are recovering from life as a fast eater or could use a little help in your digestion, Probiotics are a very valuable supplement for your digestive aid.

For those suffering the consequences of fast eating, some healing can be brought on by blending your food with a high powered blender such as the Vita-Mix. This type of blender allows you to receive ALL of the nutrients from your food whether you chew or not! due to the fact you can make a smoothie out of ALL of the parts of the vegetable. This type of blender does not separate out all the “good” stuff like a juicer does.

10 Responses to “The Consequences of Eating too Fast and How to Correct it”

1. Craig at Balanced Immune Health says:

   October 29, 2008 at 5:37 pm

   Hi Jade:

   Nice blog. Eating too fast is something my wife and kids constantly pester me about. I wonder if men tend to be fast eaters much more than women.

   Sometimes, I feel extra bad because I can occasionally see my fast eating being unknowingly copied by my family. That’s not good. We finish in 5 or 6 minutes and boom, off to the next thing.

   One thing I can see that we need to do at our house: get all laptop computers off the dinner table during a meal. If someone is doing computer work while eating, that’s an invitation to rapid eating, no doubt.
2. admin says:

   November 1, 2008 at 3:22 pm

   @Craig:

   This post was essentially written to pester someone I know! LOL and this person is a male!
3. Ava says:

   August 4, 2009 at 5:19 pm

   this woman eats way too fast- as do all the great aunts on my mothers side! It seems to be a female problem in our family. Good advice
4. Literacy 7th Taylor says:

   November 1, 2009 at 6:42 pm

   Wow! Great site helping me allot on getting long lunch time and good grades lmao. lolz well ty and great job on the site
5. Scott W. Perry says:

   November 25, 2009 at 5:11 pm

   Thank you! What a great blog, I am always having my eating habbit’s put “under the microscope”. Not for bad manners, but rather just eating way to fast. I tend to have a lot of things going on at all times, and I need to complete them as fast as possible. WIth the tips you gave, I’m sure that I will be taking a more consious approach to my eating habbits. Thank you.
6. CRM says:

   October 31, 2010 at 8:45 pm

   I think I inherited my dad’s digestive problems along with one brother and a sister.

   I never usually pay attention to how quickly I eat until someone tells me “slow down, no one is going to take it away from you!” and then I start burping, hiccuping, etc. and have an upset stomach later.

   I will say that taking Spring Valley brand Multi Enzyme supplements helps when taken before or after a big meal.

   In
7. What Happens When You Eat Too Fast? | St.Vincent Bariatrics says:

   March 15, 2011 at 2:06 pm

   [...] most things—slowing down is often easier said than done. So take a look at this article to learn some helpful tricks. This entry was posted in Blog and tagged diet, health. Bookmark the permalink. ← Weight [...]
8. Dominique says:

   March 21, 2011 at 11:43 pm

   My father eats fast and now has poor health in his older age. I think I learned this habit from him. Now as a 42 year old, i am a fast eating vegan – with acid reflux! I thought i was healthy, I do eat a very healthy diet- but this diagnosis caused me to think that my fast eating habit is a health issue. I also had a week immune system and got several colds last year, now taking vitamins and probiotics religiously. The article/blog was very eye opening. Thank you for the tips to slow down. I can’t wait to enjoy the good food i eat even more and hope to resolve the acid reflux.
9. StevieSteve says:

   July 24, 2011 at 9:34 pm

   This is interesting, post more often!
   I never get enough info about digestive problems!
10. anti aging doctor says:

    July 26, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    Great article! Eating slowly has lots of health benefits… including making you eat less! More people should try this.