Two interesting studies came across our desks this week. Definitely food for thought.

Study I: Limiting food choices may help with weight loss

What do you think would happen if you ate mac-n-cheese for five straight days? Gain a ton of weight, right? Well, maybe not. Here’s why.

Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that people lose interest in food that they eat over and over again, and end up eating less food.

The study had obese and non-obese women eat either a macaroni-and-cheese meal every day for five days, or one mac-n-cheese meal a week for five weeks. The group that ate mac-n-cheese every day averaged 100 fewer calories a day by the end of the week, whether they were obese or not. The other group averaged 30 more calories per day over their five week period.

Hmmmm.

Study II: Listen to your mother; chew your food

Participants who chewed their food 40 times vs. the typical 15 times, ate about 12 percent fewer calories, regardless of their weight.

In a study of 28 obese and normal-weight young men, researchers found higher levels of CCK, a hormone associated with reduced appetite, and lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, when the subjects chewed their food 40 times.

Mathematically, a 12 percent reduction in calories would result in a weight loss of about 25 pounds in a year. But of course, a typical diet includes foods that do not require chewing (like milk, soups, ice cream, etc.) and it may be hard to chew food for more than twice the normal 15 times. But chewing longer may be a useful tool in your weight management kit.