A study recently published in the journal Obesity has revealed that thin people eat very differently than heavy people at all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants.

Researcher Brian Wansink and his team from the Cornell University Food and Brand Laboratory observed diners at 11 different Chinese buffet restaurants across the United States.

Their goal was to find out whether the eating behaviors of people at all-you-can-eat buffets varied based on their body mass.

Trained observers recorded the height, weight, gender, age, and behavior of 213 patrons. The various seating, serving and eating behaviors were then compared across BMI levels.

The heavier (higher BMI) patrons:

• Ate more quickly

• Chewed more per bite of food

• Used forks (instead of chopsticks, enabling them to eat faster)

• Sat facing the food buffet

The thin (lower BMI) patrons:

• Ate more slowly

• Chewed less food per bite

• Used chopsticks

• Sat facing away from the food buffet

This study confirms earlier research from the University of Rhode Island published in the journal of the American Dietetic Association which found that eating slowly leads to decreases in energy intake.

Scientists even have a name for this now:

"TIME-ENERGY DISPLACEMENT"

Time Energy Displacement means that the more time you take to eat, the less energy (calories) you are likely to consume. The faster you eat, the more energy (calories) you're likely to consume

(NOTE: There have been some exceptions cited, such as restaurant eating in a social situation, where the party lingered longer, providing opportunity to eat more food; drinks, appetizers, main course, desserts, more drinks, etc. As a general rule however, eating slowly means that less calories are eaten within the time span of a normal meal).

But wait, there's even more!

A study from the University of Alabama looked at satiety (how full a food makes you feel), energy density (calories per unit of volume) and eating time of various foods. To maximize the effects of Time-Energy Displacement, it was found even more advantageous to choose foods that FORCE you to ingest calories more slowly.

This includes choosing more:

• Foods that have a high satiety factor such as high fiber and high water foods (so you feel fuller more quickly)

• Foods with a high "chew factor" (so you can't eat them fast if you tried; you have to chew them thoroughly)

• Foods with a low energy density such as high fiber vegetables and lean protein (so you'd get tired of eating before you took in a lot of calories).

These results confirm all the previous studies that have been advising us to be cautious about drinking our calories. Liquid calories, especially soft drinks and dessert coffees are two of the biggest sources of excess calories in the typical American's diet.

We also now see that the problem is two-fold: calories in liquid form can have a very high caloric density and can be consumed very quickly. While food cannot be ingested as quickly as liquids, eating quickly can also lead one to consume too many calories, which then leads to weight gain.

"Don't inhale your food" used to be an admonishment about proper eating etiquette you heard from your mom. Eating slowly is now scientifically-proven fat loss advice.

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References:

Andrade, AM, et al, eating slowly led to decreases in energy intake within meals in healthy women, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 108; 7, pp 1186-1191, July 2008. University of Rhode Island

Wansink, B, Payne CR, Eating Behavior and obesity at Chinese Buffets. Obesity. 2008 Aug; 16(8): 1957-1960. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Zijlstra, N, et al, Effect of bite size and oral processing time of a semisolid food on satiation. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 10.