LONDON (AP) — You can have your cake and eat it too — just do it slowly.
Experts tend to focus on the kinds of foods you can eat to improve your health. But the speed at which you devour your dinner matters just as much. There are risks with eating too fast — think stuck food and the potential to overeat before your brain tells you to stop. (Inhaling your food also risks annoying your slower-paced dining companions or the person who took the time to cook your meal.)
Here are some tips from scientists on how to slow down and take a more mindful approach to consuming your diet.
If you’re the kind of person who can regularly polish off breakfast, lunch or dinner in less than 20-30 minutes, you are eating too fast.
“It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to communicate to the brain via a whole host of hormonal signals that it’s full,” said Leslie Heinberg, at the Center for Behavioral Health at the Cleveland Clinic. “So when people eat rapidly, they can miss these signals and it’s very easy to eat beyond the point of fullness.”
People who eat quickly are likely to swallow more air, Heinberg said, which could lead to bloating or indigestion. Not chewing your food properly can also compromise digestion, meaning you won’t get all of the nutrients from your food. Unchewed pieces of food also could get stuck in your esophagus.
Some previous studies have suggested that people who eat quickly have the highest risk of obesity, while the slowest eaters were the least likely to be obese.
For starters, turn off the TV and put down your phone.
“If you’re eating while you watch TV, people tend to eat until there’s a commercial or the show is over,” Heinberg said, adding that people are less inclined to pay attention to the body’s own signals that it’s full. “When we do things while we’re eating, we’re eating less mindfully. And that often causes us to eat more.”
She said that when people focus exclusively on eating, they tend to enjoy the meal more and eat less.
Heinberg also acknowledged the pace at which you eat is often an ingrained habit, but said change is still possible. She suggested things like using your non-dominant hand to eat, trying utensils you might not ordinarily use like chopsticks or taking a deliberate break to drink water when your plate is partially empty.
If you have a busy life, it might be unavoidable to eat lunch at a work meeting or snack while running errands. But Sarah Berry, chief scientist at the British nutritional company ZOE, said when possible, “be mindful of what the food tastes and feels like.”
“If we’re not fully present, it’s very easy to eat more quickly and not notice how much we’ve consumed," Berry said.
One of the simplest things to do is to increase the number of bites you take, said Helen McCarthy, a clinical psychologist with the British Psychological Society.
“If you chew each mouthful a little bit longer, that will slow down your eating,” she said.
The kind of food you eat may also make a difference, pointing out that it’s much easier to eat ultraprocessed or fast foods quicker, because they typically have a softer texture.
“It’s hard to eat vegetables and protein at the same rate as something that’s highly processed and requires less chewing," McCarthy said.
Some of her patients also reported an unintentional side effect once they began eating more slowly, referencing one woman who often ate a tube of potato chips every evening. When McCarthy told her to slow down and eat every single chip individually, her patient told her “it was like having a mouthful of claggy chemicals.”
“She didn’t find (the chips) enjoyable anymore,” McCarthy said.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - Salmon poached in green salsa and topped with baked chips are displayed for a photo in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead, File)
GENEVA (AP) — The winner of FIFA’s first 32-team Club World Cup in the United States could earn $125 million as details of a $1 billion prize money fund were finally published Wednesday.
FIFA said it allocated $525 million in guaranteed fees for teams taking part in the June 14-July 13 tournament, ranging from $38.19 million to the top-ranked European team – likely Real Madrid – to $3.58 million for the Oceania representative Auckland City.
A further $475 million is earned by results in the 63 games, with $2 million paid for winning group stage games, $7.5 million for playing in the round of 16 and $40 million to the team that wins the final at MetLife Stadium near New York.
The golden trophy has been sitting in the Oval Office at the White House this month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino delivered it to President Donald Trump, who was invited to present it to the winning captain.
The prize fund was delayed until a global broadcast deal was belatedly agreed in December with streaming service DAZN, which then got a major investment from a state-backed sports agency in Saudi Arabia. Fans can watched games for free on DAZN's website.
Saudi Arabia also was confirmed in December by FIFA as host of the men’s 2034 World Cup.
Each of the 12 European teams in the Club World Cup lineup will be paid at least $12.81 million as an entry fee for the first expanded edition of the four-yearly tournament. Payments will be decided by “a ranking based on sporting and commercial criteria,” FIFA said without providing details.
Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea also qualified by either winning a Champions League title from 2021 to 2024, or having consistent results in the competition over those four seasons.
Countries were capped at two entries, unless they had three Champions League winners. Salzburg of Austria qualified as the final European team, despite never advancing beyond the round of 16, because higher-ranked clubs like Liverpool and Barcelona were blocked by the country cap.
The six South American teams each will get a $15.21 million entry fee.
Teams from Africa, Asia and the CONCACAF region of North America — including Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, despite not winning the MLS Cup title last season — each will get $9.55 million for playing.
Leon of Mexico is currently contesting its removal from the competition by FIFA because it is in shared ownership with Pachuca which also qualified.
FIFA aims to share $250 million among clubs worldwide who did not qualify for the tournament. It is unclear how many clubs will be paid, or how much they will get.
The maximum prize of $125 million ranks below the English Premier League and UEFA's Champions League in soccer's prize money table.
Man City got 176 million pounds ($227 million) in prize money from the Premier League for winning the title last season.
In the 2022-23 Champions League prize list, the most recent published by UEFA, title-winning Man City got almost 135 million euros ($146 million). The competition's total prize fund has now risen by almost 25% for each season through 2027.
UEFA will pay out close to 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) among the 36 teams in the new expanded format that guaranteed eights games played instead of six.
The $1 billion Club World Cup prize pot is, however, more than double the $440 million FIFA shared among the 32 soccer federations whose teams played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Sponsors who signed with FIFA for the club event in the two highest commercial tiers also have deals for the men's 2026 World Cup in the U.S. which will be co-hosted by Canada and Mexico.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) attempts a shot during the first half of an MLS soccer match against Atlanta United, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates with Jude Bellingham, left, after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Villarreal and Real Madrid in Villarreal, Spain, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
