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Last updated on February 22nd, 2024 at 08:58 pm
Do you find when it comes to your meals you go from start to finish before you have even had time to realize the forks touched your plate?
As your meal disappears in what feels like the blink of an eye you might think to yourself: “Why do I eat so fast?”
Eating fast can be the result of:
- Food insecurity at any point in the lifespan
- Intentionally restricting your food
- Binge eating
- Hectic schedules
- Training/work programs that require eating fast(military, fast-paced jobs)
This article will explore some of the reasons why you eat so fast, what a healthy pace for eating looks like, and how to slow down and eat normally when you’re having a meal.
Why Do I Eat Faster Than Everyone Else
You are Binge Eating
If you binge eat regularly, your body is actually experiencing shifts in serotonin (our feel-good neurotransmitter/hormone) that spike up the desire to eat at the start of a meal. This can cause you to pick up the pace at the meal to get more of this good feeling.
Binge eating can also cause:
- Head hunger
- Increases in reward response
- Increased responses to food stimuli (For example photos of food or passing by a restaurant)
- Reduced tolerance for delayed rewards (for example feeling satisfied following a meal or completing a puzzle).
If you are regularly binge eating, you probably feel obsessed with food. The only way to get rid of the desire to binge is to break the binge restrict cycle by eating regularly throughout the day.
Keep in mind regular binge eating can be a sign of binge eating disorder and you should seek support from a qualified health provider right away. Becoming binge free may require a specialized meal plan and professional support.
You’re Afraid Of Missing Out
Your body tries to compensate for missed opportunities in the past by amping up your hunger drives and causing you to eat quickly when that food comes around again.
You might be afraid of missing out if:
- You grew up in a large family and you had to eat fast to get enough food
- Your favorite foods were usually gobbled up by others in the family
- The tasty food you’re enjoying isn’t always available (vacations, holidays)
- You’ve put mental restrictions on food telling yourself you’re only allowed so much
- Training programs such as the military required fast eating
If you’ve ever felt like you are ready to “go to battle” for the food placed in front of you, it’s likely you’ve had many missed opportunities with food in your life.
You Have Experienced Starvation
If you have ever intentionally or unintentionally experienced starvation, your body has likely developed an adaptation that causes you to want to eat fast. Your body remembers when you go hungry for years or even decades. This includes both emotional hunger or physical hunger.
Starvation that contributes to why you eat fast can come from:
- Food insecurity at any point in the lifespan
- Extreme dieting
- You have had a restrictive eating disorder in the past
There are tons of hormonal and enzymatic changes in the body when a person experiences starvation or weight loss. This primes the body to prepare for starvation even when food is available.
The Food Tastes Good
If you find you are only eating fast when the food tastes especially good, this is totally normal! You might find yourself eating rapidly even when you’re not truly hungry but you just want something good to eat!
You are likely to eat fast when:
- It’s your favorite food
- It’s a highly satiable food such as a dessert
- It’s only food you allow on a special occasion
While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to eat foods fast on occasion, practicing intuitive eating and getting these foods on the table more often can help increase the enjoyment of the food and improve overall mood around food.
Your Schedule Requires You To Eat Fast
Sometimes eating fast is literally about practicality. People with busy lifestyles train themselves to eat quickly even in times when they are not actually in a rush.
Your schedule might have trained you to eat quickly if:
- You have young children that require attention
- You work long hours at a fast-paced job
- You have a lot of household responsibilities or family responsibility
If you are eating fast out of necessity, give yourself a break! Eating quickly is definitely better than not eating at all.
However, whenever you get the opportunity practice slowing down. Fact-check yourself before each meal and snack to determine if eating quickly is truly necessary.
If it’s not, slow down!
You Want To Get The Food Out of The House
This one can actually be a symptom of anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or orthorexia.
Most people are trying to eat to get food out of the house with the anticipation that they will restrict their food in the future.
Eating to get food out of the house can cause you to:
- Dissociate from your meal or snack
- Binge eat
- Experience food guilt
If you find yourself trying to get food out of the house because a fear of eating it later, A HAES dietitian can help.
What Does It Mean If You Eat Fast
Eating fast could mean:
- You have waited too long to eat
- You’re feeling insecure in your relationship with food
- You’re using food to cope with difficult emotions
- You are experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder
- It is a behavioral adaptation from past traumas or training around food
To truly slow down with your eating you will need to both identify the root cause of why you eat fast and practice strategies that will help you to slow down when you eat.
Eating fast can also be a symptom if you’re practicing all in eating disorder recovery.
Is Fast Eating Bad For You
For most people, eating fast won’t lead to serious health complications. However, eating fast can lead to discomfort and potentially dangerous health implications depending on the severity.
Symptoms of fast eating include:
- Eating way past your fullness threshold
- Intense stomach pain
- Decreased nutrient absorption
- Gastritis (inflammation in the gut)
- Dumping syndrome
- Fatigue
- Bloating
- Acid reflux
- Choking
How Long Should It Take To Eat
How long it should take to eat will depend on:
- How large the meal or snack is
- The social environment where the meal takes place
- Other obligations for the day
A good reference is it should take about 15 minutes to complete a snack and about 30 minutes to complete a meal.
It’s important to consider that eating too slowly is also problematic and is a common symptom of eating disorders.
How Can I Make Myself Eat Slower
A few tips to slow down when you’re eating include:
- Setting a timer for 30 minutes and organizing your meal to take up that time
- Having a beverage with a meal and alternating between bites and sips of beverages
- Dining with a meal support person to model appropriate pace and eating patterns
- Using distraction tools like games to break up the meal
Some tools that can be helpful initially for intensely rapid eating, but should be used with caution as they have the potential to become disordered include:
- Putting your fork down between bites
- Counting how many times you chew
Remember, it’s not always necessary or practical to slow down with your meals. However, eating at a relaxed pace for the majority of meals and snacks will help to improve your relationship with food.
Practicing these healthy eating habits can help you learn to truly enjoy your food.
History of food restriction, food taste, you have waited too long to eat, history of food insecurity, binge eating
Sometimes. At some point in our lives, most of us will be required to rush through a meal or snack. You may also eat quickly because a meal tastes good. This should not be the norm, however.
Decreased nutrient absorption, gastritis, Stomach pain, fatigue, bloating, inability to determine fullness
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