Fact check: Is eating quickly harming your health?
CLAIM:
Eating fast is harmful to health and can lead to diabetes, weight gain, mental health issues, nutrient deficiencies, and other related problems.
FACT:
True. Eating too quickly can lead to overeating, weight gain, and nutrient deficiencies. It can also increase the risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Experts suggest eating slowly, chewing thoroughly, avoiding distractions, and practising mindful, intentional meals to support digestion and overall health.
In a busy schedule setup, we all tend to eat faster so that we can save time and complete our work. While this may help us keep up with deadlines, it could also be dangerous for our health.
In a viral Instagram reel, fitness coach and influencer Priyank Mehta, who has 9.87 lakh followers, has reignited the debate around whether eating fast is really harmful. The reel, presented as a conversation between Mehta and a woman, explores a common habit in today’s busy lifestyle, rushing through meals to save time.
In the reel, Mehta begins by warning, “Don’t eat so fast. Diabetes, weight gain, mental issues, and so many other problems can happen.” The woman quickly disagrees, brushing it off as an exaggeration.
Mehta then explains that digestion actually starts in the mouth with the help of enzymes, and eating too quickly prevents proper chewing. This, he says, can reduce nutrient absorption in the small intestine, leading to deficiencies in magnesium, zinc, and iron.
He goes on to explain the consequences of these deficiencies, noting that they can affect sleep, weight, and even reproductive health. Mehta also addresses mental well-being, adding that eating fast is often linked with stress and anxiousness, and it can spike insulin levels, increasing the risk of diabetes.
For him, mindful eating is key. “Eat slow, avoid screen. Remember, the food that you eat ultimately becomes a part of you,” Mehta advises. The reel has sparked renewed discussions online about whether eating fast is really dangerous for health or not.
What happens when you eat too quickly?
In today’s fast-paced world, many people tend to eat quickly, often in a rush to save time and keep up with busy schedules. However, this habit can have unintended consequences for health. The brain needs time to register signals of fullness, which can take up to 20 minutes. Eating too quickly makes it easier to consume more food than your body actually requires, leading to excess calorie intake over time and potentially resulting in weight gain.
Studies support this link between fast eating and obesity. For instance, research in children found that 60 per cent of those who ate rapidly also overate, and fast eaters were three times more likely to be overweight. Obesity is a complex condition influenced by multiple environmental and lifestyle factors, and fast eating has emerged as a significant contributor. A review of 23 studies concluded that people who eat quickly are approximately twice as likely to become obese compared with slower eaters.
Beyond weight gain: What are other risks of eating quickly?
Beyond weight gain, eating fast is associated with other health risks. Rapid eating can increase the likelihood of insulin resistance, characterised by elevated blood sugar and insulin levels—a hallmark of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It has also been linked directly to type 2 diabetes; one study found that fast eaters were 2.5 times more likely to develop the condition than those who ate slowly. In addition, the combination of rapid eating and weight gain may raise the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 29 studies with 465,155 participants, and found that “eating faster was significantly associated with higher risks of MetS (metabolic syndrome), central obesity, elevated BP, low HDL, elevated TG, and elevated FPG compared to eating slowly.” The review concluded that “interventions related to decreasing eating speed may be beneficial for the management of MetS (metabolic syndrome).”
Another recent 2024 study investigated fast eating and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in 1,965 participants. It found that “participants who ate fast frequently (≥2 times/week) had 81 pc higher risk of MASLD,” and a meta-analysis confirmed that “frequent fast eating was associated with increased risk of MASLD.”
Fast eating can also negatively impact digestion. Eating quickly often involves taking larger bites and chewing less, which can impair digestive processes. Moreover, those who eat rapidly tend to report lower satisfaction with their meals, which, while not a direct health issue, can affect overall eating habits and relationship with food.
What do doctors advise?
In line with these findings, Dr Rajiv Kovil, Head of Diabetology and weight loss expert at Zandra Healthcare, explained the importance of mindful eating and the risks of eating too quickly. He highlighted that when people eat slowly, “there's a lot of synchronisation between the digestion and the hormonal cycles. Just by breaking down food slowly, the stomach absorbs nutrients with the help of amylase and lipase.”
He added that satiety hormones such as PYY, GLP-1, and ghrelin take at least 20–25 minutes after starting a meal to peak. “If someone eats a meal within five minutes, distracted by screens or other activities, the hormonal response occurs much later. This mismatch can cause them to eat faster than their stomach’s capacity allows,” Dr Kovil said.
According to him, the act of chewing itself is crucial. “The sight and smell of food prime your digestive system, triggering the cephalic phase of digestion, which accounts for almost 30–40 pc of digestive secretions. Fast eating bypasses this phase, leading to inefficient digestion.” He noted that studies show fast eaters typically consume about 100 calories more than slow eaters.
Dr Kovil also explained the link between fast eating and nutrient deficiencies. “Eating quickly prevents proper chewing, which reduces nutrient absorption in the small intestine and can cause deficiencies in magnesium, zinc, and iron. Saliva contains many digestive enzymes that start breaking down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the mouth, but when food is gulped down without chewing, this process is bypassed. Most nutrient absorption happens in the small intestine, so improperly chewed food is not digested efficiently. When undigested food reaches the large intestine, it can cause bloating, abdominal pain, and other digestive discomforts.”
He emphasised the connection between stress and fast eating, stating, “Stress eating is essentially mindless eating. Excess cortisol and sympathetic drive affect gut motility and digestion, while food gives an immediate reward to the mesolimbic system in the brain, temporarily reducing stress.”
In fact, according to a 2013 review, “during stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated to prepare the organism for fight or flight; that is, mounting a defensive response depends on available energy. Thus, the HPA axis initiates a cascade of physiological adaptations such as the release of glucose into the bloodstream, thereby suppressing hunger. Emotional eaters, however, do not show the typical response of eating less during stress. Instead, they eat the same amount, or more, during stress. It has been suggested that people use “comfort food”, meaning food high in sugar and fat, in an effort to reduce activity in the chronic stress-response network with its attendant anxiety. Intake of comfort food is thought to alleviate stress by reducing HPA axis activity and promoting the activation of brain circuits involved in reward-seeking behaviour, thereby further reinforcing feeding behaviour.”
For better eating habits, Dr Kovil recommends chewing each bite 20–30 times, eliminating distractions, serving smaller portions, prioritising non-carbs first, and using smaller plates. “Conversational meals and sipping water during meals can prolong eating time, making meals more satisfying and reducing calorie intake,” he said.
He concluded by stressing the broader benefits of mindful eating. “The pace at which we eat is an underappreciated determinant of health. Fast eating disrupts harmony between the gut and brain, affecting metabolic health. Slow, intentional eating restores physiological rhythms and helps maintain balance between hormones, nutrient absorption, and satiety,” he said.
This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS.
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