It takes our brain about 20 minutes to register if we are full. There are a couple of techniques you can use to help slow down your eating. One suggestion is to serve your family meal buffet style instead of family style, so you will need to get up from the table in order to serve yourself a second helping. Another suggestion is to plate your food on a dinner plate and then set a salad plate in front of you to dish out your serving from your dinner plate. A third idea to help slow down your eating is to count your bites of food, instead of the typical 15 bites, chew your food 40 times. The fourth idea can be loads of laughs in addition to helping you to slow down your eating. Use your non-dominant hand to bring your food on the fork or spoon into your mouth or use chopsticks instead of a fork or spoon.
A study conducted by Brian Wansink and his colleagues points out how mindlessly we can eat. Two groups were given different situations. One group had a normal bowl of soup that would empty out as they ate it. The other group had specially designed bowls that had a pump system built into the bottom that could add more soup to the bowl as the person ate (they were not aware of this). Everyone was told to stop eating when they were full. The people who had the bowls that kept refilling ate 73% more before reporting they were full than those who had the regular bowls of soup, supporting the assertion that we often use visual cues to figure out if we are full (clean plates), rather than our true feeling of fullness. As such, trying to fill our plates with the right amount of food, eating slowly and then giving our minds a chance to catch up with our stomachs is key.

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Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.