Stuffing Face 101: Eating fast makes us fat

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Greek researchers say mom was right when she said "wolfing down your food will make you fat."

The study, published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, finds those taking a full 30 minutes to eat ice cream tend to have higher concentrations of two satiety inducing gut hormones -- peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide -- and had more of a feeling of being full than those who ate their ice cream quickly.

"Our study provides a possible explanation for the relationship between speed eating and overeating by showing that the rate at which someone eats may impact the release of gut hormones that signal the brain to stop eating," lead author Dr. Alexander Kokkinos of Laiko General Hospital in Athens says in a statement.

A decreased release of gut hormones, Kokkinos says, can often lead to overeating.

"Our findings give some insight into an aspect of modern-day food overconsumption, namely the fact that many people, pressed by demanding working and living conditions, eat faster and in greater amounts than in the past," Kokkinos says.