Americans eat too fast. That one habit drives overeating more than most people realize. Your body needs time to register fullness, but if you eat too quickly, that signal never arrives in time. You finish the plate, then feel stuffed — and wonder why your energy crashes an hour later.
Researchers at Fujita Health University in Japan wanted to know if slowing down meals by chewing more or taking smaller bites could make a measurable difference. It did. Their data showed that longer meals weren’t about chewing slower — they were about chewing more and taking more bites. This small shift gives your brain and gut time to sync. Let’s look at what the researchers found and how to make it work for you.
Slowing Your Bites Shifts Your Biology
The study, published in the journal Nutrients, set out to determine whether small behavior changes related to chewing and bite pace could stretch out mealtimes — and if so, whether that could help address overeating and its connection to obesity.1
To explore this, participants ate identical portions of food at different chewing tempos, including sessions timed to metronomes set at varying speeds. The study directly tested whether the number of chews, the number of bites, and the speed of eating affected total mealtime length.
• Researchers explored what factors controlled how long a person eats — The study included 33 subjects recruited from a university setting in Japan. These adults had no history of diabetes, high blood pressure or other diseases that might skew results.
Participants ate quarter slices of pizza under four different rhythm conditions: no metronome, and metronomes set at 40, 80 and 160 beats per minute (bpm). Researchers then measured how long it took them to finish each piece, how many chews they took and how many bites were used.
• Chewing and biting more made meals longer — The key result: the more chews and bites someone took, the longer their meal lasted. In contrast, chewing tempo — the speed at which someone moves their jaw — didn’t affect eating time at all.
• Slower metronome tempos naturally increased bites, chews and time spent eating — When participants followed a slow 40 bpm rhythm in their headphones, their eating duration stretched dramatically compared to when they heard no rhythm at all. That rhythm also led to more chews and bites per meal.
Researchers found that slowing tempo helped regulate chewing without needing people to consciously slow down or count their bites — it simply happened as a response to the external rhythm.
• The 40 bpm pace was the most effective in triggering these positive changes — Compared with no rhythm, eating at 40 bpm increased mealtime by an average of 47 seconds — while the 80 and 160 bpm tempos extended mealtime by only 22 and 19 seconds, respectively.
That slower rhythm also added about 29 more chews and nearly five more bites per meal, again outperforming the faster paces. The study found this slow pace “more potently prolonged the meal duration” and directly altered eating behavior.
Your Brain and Gut Need More Time to Sync Up
While both sexes showed longer mealtimes with slower rhythms, only women had a statistically significant increase in bite count at 40 bpm. Men had the same directional trend, but it didn’t reach statistical significance. This suggests that women are more behaviorally responsive to external pacing cues during eating, though the reasons why remain unclear and may involve hormonal or cultural conditioning.
• The rhythmic speed of chewing is regulated by your brain, but pacing is flexible — Although you might assume you control your chewing tempo, researchers note that your actual jaw rhythm is regulated by a brainstem structure. This built-in motor program keeps your chewing rhythm consistent.
The study showed that even when faster rhythms were introduced (like 160 bpm), chewing tempo didn’t meaningfully change, because your body resists chewing too fast. But eating slower, through added chews and smaller bites, was achievable without fighting this innate pattern.
• The act of eating engages internal hormone signaling that needs time to work — The longer you eat, the more time your gut hormones have to tell your brain that you’re full. This is part of why slower eating leads to feeling satisfied with less food. Stretching meal duration by chewing more or taking smaller bites allows this process to unfold as it was biologically designed, without being overridden by rushed eating behaviors.
• The researchers suggest chewing chewy foods and using small utensils to increase bites — You don’t need a metronome to get the benefits shown in the study. The authors propose practical solutions like using a small spoon, slicing food into smaller pieces and choosing foods that require more chewing — such as whole foods instead of processed varieties.
These naturally increase bite count and extend meal duration, helping you eat more mindfully without counting calories or forcing restriction.
How to Train Yourself to Eat Slower
If you’ve ever finished a meal quickly and felt uncomfortably full — or caught yourself mindlessly eating without realizing it — you’re not alone. The issue isn’t always what you’re eating, but how.
Eating too fast leads to overeating because your brain doesn’t have time to register that you’re full. You don’t need to overhaul your entire diet to fix this. You just need to change the pace. Here are five simple steps to help you slow down and reconnect with your natural fullness cues:
1. Chew more than you think you need to — If you’re like most people, you probably chew just enough to swallow. That’s where the problem starts. Based on the study, chewing more was directly linked to eating less without trying. I recommend counting your chews for just a few bites per meal at first.
Aim for 20 to 30 chews per mouthful. You don’t need to count every bite forever — just enough to build awareness. If you’re someone who eats quickly by habit, this step alone could cut your meal size in half over time.
2. Take smaller bites to naturally stretch out your meal — Eating with a smaller utensil — like a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon — forces you to take smaller bites without thinking about it. You’re not tricking your body; you’re training it.
This method increases your number of bites, which was strongly tied to longer mealtimes in the study. If you’re someone who cleans your plate in minutes, this change is simple and powerful. Even slicing food into smaller pieces before you begin makes a big difference.
3. Play slow, relaxing background music while you eat — This might sound odd, but it works. In the study, a 40-bpm rhythm helped people chew more and eat slower — without even realizing it. You can use music with a similar tempo to mimic the effect of a metronome.
I recommend instrumentals with a calm, slow beat during meals. It’s a passive way to recondition your eating speed. If you’re eating in front of a fast-paced TV show, your brain will follow the pace of your environment — and that usually means rushing.
4. Only prepare food that actually takes time to chew — Ultra-soft or processed foods disappear fast, and they rarely satisfy. If you’re eating soft bread, chips or instant noodles, you’ll end up needing more volume to feel full. Instead, build your meals around foods that require some effort — like well-cooked vegetables, shredded grass fed meat or whole fruit.
If you’re dealing with gut issues, ease into any high-fiber foods slowly. But once tolerated, these textures encourage chewing and keep your meals naturally slower.
5. Put your fork down between bites to create natural pauses — It’s a small habit that breaks the urge to reload your next bite before you’ve even swallowed. If you tend to multitask while eating — scrolling your phone, watching videos, answering emails — this step is even more important.
Holding your utensil while chewing keeps your brain in “go” mode. Setting it down forces a brief pause that gives your satiety hormones time to work. I suggest using this step early in the meal when your hunger drive is strongest and hardest to control.
Changing how you eat doesn’t require willpower. It requires structure. These steps help you build that structure in a way that feels natural, not forced. Start with one and layer in the others over time. Eating slower is not just a trick for eating less. It’s a direct way to support your metabolism and digestion.
FAQs About Eating Slower
Q: How does chewing more help prevent overeating?
A: Chewing more increases the amount of time you spend eating, which gives your brain and gut enough time to signal fullness. This prevents you from eating more than your body actually needs. The longer you chew, the more your natural fullness signals can do their job before you overeat.
Q: What’s more important — chewing slower or chewing more?
A: The number of chews and bites matters more than the speed of chewing. Research showed that chewing tempo didn’t significantly affect meal length, but the total number of chews and bites did. This means you don’t need to slow your jaw movements — you just need to chew more and take smaller bites to extend your meal time.
Q: Can playing music during meals really help me eat less?
A: Yes. In the study, participants who ate in sync with slow-paced music (40 beats per minute) took more bites, chewed more and ate slower overall. You can replicate this effect at home by playing calm, slow instrumental music to guide your pace naturally.
Q: Does this approach work better for men or women?
A: The benefits applied to both, but women in the study responded more strongly to slow rhythm cues, especially when it came to increasing the number of bites. That said, chewing more and eating slower helped both men and women increase meal length and better regulate food intake.
Q: What’s the simplest way to start eating slower today?
A: Use a smaller spoon, chew each bite at least 20 times and put your fork down between bites. These simple habits help extend your meal in a natural, not forced, way. If you want extra help, play slow background music while eating to set the tone and pace.
