Slow down! Fast eaters have a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease

Do you gobble up your food as soon as it is served? Well, you may have thought that it's only problematic when you go out to eat with your friends or partner who can't keep up with your pace, but now a recent research shows that eating your food too fast can be harmful to your body. It can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Japanese scientists found that people who eat quickly, do not give their bodies time to realise that it's full and they tend to eat more.

Dr Takayuki Yamaji, a cardiologist at Hiroshima University in Japan, told Daily Mail: "Eating more slowly may be a crucial lifestyle change to help prevent metabolic syndrome."

The study was conducted on more than 1,000 middle-aged people in Japan with an average age of 51. After enrolling in the study, all the participants had a physical exam. They were also asked to describe their usual eating speed as slow, normal or fast and were divided into these three groups, accordingly.

At the beginning of the study, none of them had metabolic syndrome. But, five years later, 11.6 percent of the quick eaters developed the syndrome. However, when it came to normal speed eaters, only 6.5 percent of them developed the metabolic syndrome and 2.3 percent of slow eaters.

The result showed that fast eaters were five-and-a-half times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than slow eaters.

Metabolic syndrome involves a number of conditions including high blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and obesity.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation told The Telegraph: "If anything, it's a reminder that many of us have hectic lifestyles which may include eating quickly at the desk over lunchtime, or in a rush commuting home."

The research was presented on November 13, at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2017.