Rumour has it "prolonged mastication can help with weight loss"

So, the question is - Can prolonged mastication (chewing your food, in other words) help with weight loss?

Well, the theory goes that by chewing our food for longer, it is, in the first instance, more broken down. This in turn apparently aids the stomach in breaking down the food faster, extracting all the good stuff from the food and then passing the waste through the system.

The other factor that apparently comes into play as well is that by chewing our food for longer (prolonged mastication) our brains and tummys are telling us we are full when we've actually eaten less food. Which of course, effectively means we have reduced our food consumption. Which means we've reduced our calory intake.

Typically we only chew out food about 10 times before swallowing - so try chewing 15 to 20 times and delaying putting the next mouth full in for a few moments longer.

Add to that, drink a tumbler of water (not fizzy) throughout your dinner. This will help with traction of your food.

From my research the general consensus is that after about 20 minutes of eating our tummys and brains start to tell us we have had enough.

This one action could be enough to lose a considerable amout of weight without hardly any effort and you'll save money in the interim as you won't be eating as much.

Good news all round then.

Standard advice is of course, consider seeking medical advice before making changes to your lifestyle. This article is intended as a suggestion and not advice.