Instead of gulping¹ your food, try eating more slowly.It may help you drop those unwanted pounds, a new study by Japanese researchers suggests.

与其狼吞虎咽，不如试试悠着点。日本研究人员的一项新研究表明，细嚼慢咽可以帮助减掉多余的体重。

Also helpful: Avoiding after-dinner snacks and eating anything in the two hours before you go to bed, the researchers said.

研究人员说，此外，杜绝餐后零食且睡前两小时内避免进食也有助于减肥。

The study linked those simple changes to a smaller waist, and lower rates of obesity² and overweight.

这项研究表明这些简单的饮食调整有助于缩小腰围，降低肥胖和超重的比例。

Compared with people who gobbled their food, those who ate at a normal speed were 29 percent less likely to be obese³.But those who ate slowly were up to 42 percent less likely to be obese.

与那些狼吞虎咽的人相比，以正常速度进食的人肥胖几率要低29%。而细嚼慢咽的人发胖几率更是可以降低42%的比例。

In addition, slow eaters tended to be healthier and to have a healthier lifestyle than those who ate quickly or at a normal speed.

另外，细嚼慢咽的人往往比那些狼吞虎咽及正常进食速度的人有更健康的体魄和生活方式。

This study could not, however, prove that eating speed causes or prevents obesity, only that it appears to be associated, the researchers noted⁴.They were led by Dr. Haruhisa Fukuda from the Department of Health Care Administration and Management at Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Fukuoka, Japan.

然而，研究人员指出，这项研究并不能证明，进食速度会导致或预防肥胖，二者只是相互关联而非因果关系。该项研究由日本福冈九州大学医学院的卫生保健管理和管理系的福田博士发起。

But, eating slowly may very well play a role in curbing⁵ obesity, said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Conn.He had no part in the study.

但是，位于康涅狄格州德比的耶鲁-格里芬预防研究中心主任 David Katz 博士说，慢慢地吃东西很可能会在控制肥胖方面起到一定作用。尽管他没有参与这项研究。

Practices that impose some mindfulness and discipline on eating may help with both losing weight and staying healthy, Katz said.He’s also president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

兼任美国生活方式医学学院院长的 David Katz说：“那些在饮食上施加一些专注力和自制力的做法可能有助于减肥和保持健康。”

Slow eating is characteristic of a more mindful approach.Food choice is more conscious, and eating is appreciated for quality rather than just quantity, he said.

慢食会迫使人更专注。他说，人们需要有意识地对食物进行选择，吃东西重在质而非量。

Avoiding food in the hours just before sleep also suggests a more thoughtful approach to diet that involves some reasonable constraints⁷, Katz said.

Katz说：“在睡觉前的几个小时里避免进食，其实就是对摄入的合理限制，这也暗合了自控的饮食方式。”

The research team’s findings came from analysis of health insurance data on nearly 60,000 Japanese residents with diabetes⁸ who had made insurance claims and had regular checkups between 2008 and 2013.

该研究小组的调查结果来自对近6万名糖尿病患者的健康保险数据分析，这些人曾在2008年至2013年间进行过保险索赔，并定期进行体检。

The checkups included weight and waist size measurements and the results of blood, urine and liver function tests.Participants also were asked about their lifestyle, including eating and sleep habits and alcohol and tobacco use.

检查包括体重和腰围尺寸的测量，以及血液、尿液和肝功能测试的结果。参与者还被问及他们的生活方式，包括饮食、睡眠习惯、以及烟酒的摄入。

At the start of the study, more than 22,000 people routinely ate quickly, while nearly 33,500 ate at a normal speed and almost 4,200 ate more slowly.

在研究开始时，超过22,000人经常吃得很快，而近33,500人以正常速度进食，近4,200人吃得慢。

Although reductions in waist size -- a sign of a potentially harmful midriff bulge⁹ -- were small, they were greater among those who ate slowly or at normal speed, the study found.

研究发现，虽然腰围变小——这是潜在有害的腹部隆起的迹象——但在那些慢速或正常速度的人群中，腰围却更小。

Snacking after dinner and eating within two hours of going to sleep also were linked to changes in weight.Skipping breakfast was not.

体重变化与晚餐后吃零食，睡前两小时内吃东西息息相关。与不吃早餐无关。

Previous research has linked eating quickly to impaired¹⁰ glucose¹¹ tolerance¹² and insulin resistance.The study suggested that this might be because fast eaters consume more food before feeling full.

先前的研究表明，快速进食会导致葡萄糖耐受不良和胰岛素抵抗。研究表明，这可能是因为吃快餐的人在吃饱之前会消耗更多的食物。

Slow eaters, however, become aware of feeling full before they’ve consumed too much.

然而，慢食者在吃得太多之前就会意识到饱了。

Slow eating has its pros¹³ and a few cons⁶, said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center in New York City.

纽约大学医学中心的资深临床营养师Samantha Heller说：“慢食既有优点也有缺点。”

On the one hand, slow eating gives our bodies time to register a sense of satisfaction and fullness, so we tend to eat less, she said.

她说，一方面，慢食让身体有时间来反应这种满足感和饱腹感，所以往往能让我们吃得更少。

We are more likely to savor¹⁴ the taste, texture¹⁵, subtle flavors and mouth feel of foods, said Heller, who was not involved with the study."Research suggests that slow eaters consume fewer calories, have increased feelings of fullness and a decreased sense of hunger."

“我们更有可能品尝食物的味道、口感、微妙的味道和口感，”没有参与到福田博士研究的Heller对此观点不谋而合，“研究表明，吃得慢的人消耗更少的卡路里，增加了饱腹感，减少了饥饿感。”

On the other hand, the longer some people linger with food in front of them, the more they eat, she said.

她说，另一方面，有些人在食物面前逗留的时间越长，他们吃的就越多。

That said, speed eating appears to be far more deleterious, Heller said."People who speed eat, as many of us do, scarf down far more calories than they need."

“那就是说，吃速食似乎更有害，”海勒说。“像我们很多人一样，快速进食的人摄入的卡路里远远超过他们所需要的卡路里。”

Eating quickly has been associated with a higher risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease and metabolic¹⁶ syndrome¹⁷, Heller said.

海勒说，快速进食与肥胖、心血管疾病和代谢综合征的高风险有关。

In many European countries, slow eating is a way of life, she said."In America, speed eating takes the lead.Thus, we need to encourage a cultural shift to adopting an approach of slower eating and a true enjoyment of food."

“在许多欧洲国家，慢食是一种生活方式，”她说。“在美国，速食成为主流。因此，我们需要鼓励一种文化上的转变，即采取一种慢食和真正享受食物的方式。”

The study was published online Feb. 12 in the journal BMJ Open.

这项研究发表在2月12日的电子版《英国医学期刊》上。