Slowing how fast you eat can help your weight

(WJBK) - What's something we can all start doing right now to perhaps lower our risk for weight gain? It has nothing to do with what you're eating, but rather, how you're eating.

If Mom always warned you to stop scarfing down your food, new science says she was right. 

Get ready to start keeping track of bites, or timing your breakfast lunch and dinner. Turns out, if we just slow our roll at the table we may be able to control those numbers on the scale. 

A look at data from 60,000 people with type 2 diabetes finds eating too fast can make us gain weight. After asking participants if they were a fast, medium or slow eater, researchers found the fast eaters were more likely to weigh more. 

Dr. Heinberg says that when we eat the signals of hunger have to move from our stomach and gut to our brain, and that's not always a quick journey. 

Here's what happens. A fast eater outpaces the brain signal, so by the time they stop eating, they feel uncomfortably full. 

But when we eat at a slower pace, it allows that process to happen so we start to feel full while we're still eating and we can stop before getting overly full.

Eating more slowly can be one of the simple new habits to add to your arsenal. 

So how do you slow down and save calories? 

Sit down for your meals and plan to sip on water in between bites. Use the timer on your phone; each meal should take about 30 minutes. Keep track of chewing. Make sure your tackle each bite with a deliberate number of chews, and put your fork down after every bite. 

The study is in the British Medical Journal.