"If you chew your food 40 times instead of 15 times, you will consume about 12 percent fewer calories," according to a study by Chinese scientists, published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition", reported the British media.
The leader of the study Ji Li, from the medical university in the eastern Chinese city of Harbin, came to the conclusion that obese people, compared to those of normal weight, took in more food and chewed it less times - one chew per gram of food.
This study included 30 young people - 14 obese and 16 of normal weight, and the goal was to find out whether weight is affected by how many times we chew food before swallowing it.
Scientists also wanted to find out if and how chewing affects blood sugar levels and hormones involved in appetite regulation, given that some previous studies have shown that obesity is associated with faster intake and insufficient chewing of food.
Study co-author Shuran Wang pointed out that this study showed them that there is definitely a connection between the number of chews and the hormones that "tell the brain when to start and when to stop eating."
In fact, the study showed that more chewing of food is associated with a decrease in the level of ghrelin in the blood, a hormone that stimulates appetite, and an increase in the level of cholecystokinin, a hormone that reduces appetite.
"These hormones should definitely be taken into account when prescribing weight-loss therapy," Wang said.
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