"Guys, chill out with the pretzels man. Y'all are acting like you haven't eaten in a month!"

This is what I told our boys about a week ago as we watched some fireworks from our living room window.

Within 2 minutes, about 70% of a super-sized bag of pretzel thins was wiped out. 

But - I've been there, too. And that's what brought me to tell you this simply hack that can change your physiology without changing your diet or exercise) from an article I just read. 

It's kind of "boring", but boy does it work. A few months ago, we even made it our monthly habit challenge of the month so it "sticks". 

So here we go - slow eating brings a number of benefits including:

• Improves digestion
   
• Helps you feel satiated with less food, therefore aiding in weight loss/management

But is this just fluff or is there scientific evidence to this?

In a 2010 study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers took 17 healthy adults and gave them 675 calories worth of ice cream, in two different sessions.

They gave the participants either 5 minutes or 30 minutes to eat the ice cream. They measured the change in blood levels of ghrelin (“the hunger hormone”), plus PYY and GLP-1 (satiety hormones that help us feel “full”).

They measured their perceived appetite using a scale to determine how full or hungry they were.

In the 5 minute session, the ice cream was divided into two equal portions: One which was given at the beginning, and the other 5 minutes later.

In the 30 minute session, the ice cream was divided into seven portions given every 5 minutes.

They did this to make sure the ice cream they were eating was always frozen and consistent.

(They even made sure that each portion was eaten within 1 minute to maintain a consistent rate of ingestion!)

The results...

Compared to the short meal, the 30 minute meal:

>> Had higher levels of PYY and GLP-1 (meaning: their “satiety hormones” were up)

>> Had similar changes of ghrelin (though in other studies, eating slowly does cause ghrelin to drop)

>> Reported feeling more full 

What does this all mean for you?

Eating a meal (or even a snack!) slowly can decrease appetite-stimulating hormones and increase satiety hormones—and this effect can last well after a meal is over.

As a result, you may feel more full and you might be less likely to snack afterwards.

How can you APPLY this?

The habit challenge we did was the 10 X 15 X 10 rule...

If you're hungry, wait 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes, you're still hungry, then you eat. However, you take 15 minutes to eat it, no matter the size of the meal or snack. Then once you're done and you're still hungry, you're welcome to eat, but you just have to wait 10 minutes. :)

Plenty of "a-ha" moments our participants had doing this simple hack.

Let me know if you do it - have a great Friday!

Mike