3 Tips to Slow Down Eating

I’ve been rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and while food doesn’t usually factor in, occasionally it does. I was amused by this exchange between Garak, a Cardassian (an alien race, not one of the Kardashians), and Julian Bashir, a human doctor, in season 3, episode 20, Improbable Cause.

(Bashier is rapidly eating his lunch)

Garak: Doctor, are you in a hurry?

Bashir: …If you hadn’t been so late, I could have enjoyed my lunch.

Garak: Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you rush through a meal. You never take the time to savor your food. It seems to be a human characteristic…. [It] is a very interesting sociological phenomenon, don’t you think? For generations now, humankind has had more than enough food, and yet, you go about your eating as if you were afraid someone was going to come along and snatch away your plate.

Bashir: Garak, why don’t you eat for a while and let me talk?

Garak: Fear of starvation amid plenty. It points to some dark secret hidden in the human soul, a gnawing hunger. Perhaps someone should do a study.

What struck me is that even in this depiction of life centuries in the future, people still often rush through their meals, something a lot of us do today. I’m not sure it’s because of a “dark secret” in the human soul, though, since some European cultures are much more relaxed about their eating.

But it did make me think about why we rush so much – and how we might be able to slow down.

Why people eat quickly

For many of us, I think eating quickly is primarily a factor of limited time. A friend of mine who’s a librarian only gets 30 minutes for lunch, which she also needs to use for any other personal business during the day, so she has no choice but to rush.

I often find myself trying to fit in eating between meetings, while I know others I work with eat during meetings and therefore have to fit in bites between times when they have to speak.

And other meals may not be much better. Breakfast may be a quick affair as you get ready for work, maybe get the kids off to school, or prepare for whatever else your day holds. Evenings may have a little more breathing room, but then you’re probably also doing dishes, doing other household chores, helping with homework, bringing kids to or from activities, or maybe trying to do activities of your own.

It all adds up to people often feeling very pressed for time, and eating often suffers because of that.

At the same time, it’s not great to eat so quickly you don’t even really taste your food or notice what you’re eating. So here are a few ways you might slow down.

1: Pause before eating

Even if you’re busy, you can pause a moment before eating. You may choose to express gratitude, silently or aloud, perhaps thinking of everyone who’s been involved in the food: the farmers, the truck drivers, the packers and distributors, those who sold you the food, etc.

Or you could simply notice the food in as much detail as possible. How it’s arranged on the plate. What colors it is. How it smells. What kinds of textures it has.

All of this will help you be more mindful of the food itself.

2: Savor your first bite

Even if you end up eating most of your food quickly and with little attention, try to notice your first bite and really savor it. The first bite will always taste the best since that’s when you’re hungriest, so make the most of it.

Notice as many flavors as you can, as well as textures and temperatures. Is the food hot, cold, warm, room temperature? Salty, sweet, savory, spicy? Is it crunchy or soft and smooth? What do you like about it?

Or you may find that you don’t like it as much as you expected, in which case you could decide not to eat the rest of it.

3: Put your fork down between bites

One of the best and easiest ways to slow down your meal is to put your fork – or spoon or other utensil – down between bites. This helps you stay focused on the bite you’re chewing instead of anticipating the bite you’re about to take.

Or, if you’re eating something like a sandwich or anything else that doesn’t involve utensils, you can put the food or container down between bites.

In rare cases, this isn’t feasible, like if you’re eating an ice cream cone on a hot summer day and you need to eat it before it melts. But most of the time, this is a good strategy that will help slow down your meal.

Eating isn’t a race

Sometimes, people may eat quickly because they suffer from feelings of scarcity and worry the food will disappear. For many of us, though, it’s because we feel rushed. This may or may not be justified, but either way, it’s hard to ignore the sense of urgency.

But even if your time truly is limited, you can take a few seconds before eating to appreciate your food and savor the first bite. You may also have time to slow down the whole meal by putting down your food or utensils periodically.

If you take these steps, you’re more likely to enjoy your food, and you may even feel less hurried, which makes it a win all around.