Slow Down! New Study Says Eating Quickly Results In Health Issues

DETROIT (WWJ) -- Are you one of those people who scarfs your food down? Well you might want to change your dining habits.

It turns out that eating fast is bad for your health according to new research from the American Heart Association.  Gobbling your food may make you fat and put you at risk for metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of health problems that can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Kelsey Rimmell is a registered dietitian with St. john Providence, and she said that the faster you eat the more of the fats and sugars you'll consume.

"If you're eating quickly you're more likely to consume more calories, probably a lot more sugar and fat that is within that meal," Rimmell said.

Rimmell added that when you eat slowly your brain has time to send out signals that you're full. One way to help with your eating speed is turning off the television.

"You might eat more than one serving of something because you're not really in tune to what you're doing, you're more in tone to your TV show," Rimmell said.

Some other tips that can help slow down your eating are setting your fork down between bites and using a smaller plate to eat from. Another aspect that could help with your eating speed is the color of your plate. Cool colors -- like blue and purple -- tend to suppress your appetite while a red or yellow plate will stimulate your appetite.