On vacation it is common to indulge in luxury (or two, or three ...) and eat a good binge of, for example, the typical food of our land to which we return in summer or the gastronomic specialties of the place we travel to. However, science says that, for health reasons, perhaps we should not make it a habit either.
The reason for this is that, when we get very full, there comes a point where we are no longer eating out of hunger (understood as the bodily sensation that informs us that we need to provide food to the body to function properly) but because of 'emotional hunger 'or gluttony.
In fact, there are studies that have shown that hunger actually stops after a certain time after starting to eat (which is explained because hunger is regulated by hormones released into the bloodstream and not directly because the digestive system is empty), regardless of whether in that period we eat more or less.
In any case, overeating causes a series of negative effects on our body, especially if we get used to it. For example, it causes the digestive system to go to great lengths to digest, so it spends more energy on it and has less available for other activities.
In addition, having to perform such an expensive digestion means that the body assimilates food worse, which can cause indigestion, gas, reflux, constipation and other digestive symptoms.
What's especially important, more than not bingeing occasionally, is getting into the habit of stopping eating before feeling full. This is because, although the stomach is very elastic and contrary to what some popular beliefs say it does not widen (and almost all people have it approximately the same size), it is our brain that will get used to these sensations and will adopt the habit of continuing to eat until you reach that feeling. In the long run, this can cause various digestive problems, with inflammation at various points in the digestive system, as well as a greater accumulation of fat.
However, and taking up the fact that hunger stops after a while after starting to eat (between a quarter of an hour and 20 minutes), there is a simple strategy that can help us eat less: chew more slowly, which leads to eat less food in the same time.
