Eating with chopsticks helps you eat slowly, leading to consumption of smaller portions. iTALK tells you why how is as important as what you eat

Want a body like hers? Instead of a full plate, eat from a quarter plate. British model/actress Elizabeth Hurley has patented the Kids' Cutlery Diet in Hollywood. According to her, eating in a nursery plate makes her feel like she is eating more than she really is. Pic/AFP Photo

A better alternative to crash and liquid diets is the new chopsticks diet. In Kimiko Barber's cookbook, The Chopsticks Diet, the author explores the benefits of Japanese cuisine, and presents 120 recipes that use traditional Japanese fare (rice, fish, soybeans, vegetables, seaweeds, fruits) in fresh, modern ways. The book reveals how one reason for elegant figures in the East, is their practice of eating with chopsticks. Eating with chopsticks slows you down, and so, you eat less. Gobbling food makes us overeat because it takes the brain 20 minutes to register that the stomach is full. Chopsticks naturally make us take smaller mouthfuls that instantly reduce the amount of food we eat; we chew more, which increases the flow of digestive juices.

What happens when you eat fast?

You consume more calories: A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2008 showed that women who ate slowly, consumed 70 fewer calories than those who ate rapidly. If food is eaten fast, there's not enough time for the hormones responsible for signaling that the body is full, to come into play.

There's increased risk of acid reflux and indigestion: A study presented at Digestive Disease Week showed that healthy volunteers who ate their meals in 5 minutes, experienced more heartburn and acid reflux than those who consumed their meal during a more leisurely 30 minute time interval.