title: Does prolonged chewing reduce food intake? Fletcherism revisited.
abstract: Horace Fletcher (1849-1919) spread his doctrine to chew each mouthful thoroughly in order to prevent gaining weight. We sought to test this idea by manipulating chewing instructions whilst using electromyography to monitor chewing behaviour. Comparing 35 with 10 chews per mouthful, we showed that higher chewing counts reduced food intake despite increasing chewing speed, and despite doubling meal duration for achieving a subjective reference point for feeling 'comfortably full'. Although limited by a low sample size, our preliminary findings confirm Mr. Fletcher's doctrine, and provide a basis for further research in this area. Outcomes and implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Functional Food Centre, School of Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK. henk.smit@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: Hendrik Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: E Katherine
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kemsley
authors.forename: Henri S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Tapp
authors.forename: C Jeya K
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Henry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004435:Eating; D004576:Electromyography; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult