# How fast do you eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271 "2009-11-20T08:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/1 "2009-11-20T08:59:19Z")
I eat at the speed of light (or so I think). I could finish my food in 10 minutes, 15 if I drag. Not that I am proud of it - it frequently causes indigestion and sometimes make me look like a boor. I picked up the habit after conscription, when usually we just have 15 minutes to finish lunch or dinner. In contrast, my friend is a slow eater. He chews his food carefully, swallow slowly and never talked while chewing, which means that he never chews while he talks, and if we are talking, it would take forever for him to finish. I on the other hand while say one sentence, eat a chunk of food, then another sentence, while he would have an entire conservation without touching his food. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/2 "2009-11-20T09:14:15Z")
Hum, I’ve picked I eat at normal speed but I eat at the same pace than you and you think it’s quick. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/3 "2009-11-20T09:20:57Z")
I am a messy eater but I tend to eat slowly at the same time. Worst of both worlds. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/4 "2009-11-20T13:03:28Z")
It takes me a long time to finish a meal. It is a plumbing problem - foods and liquids get stuck part way down. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/5 "2009-11-20T13:09:41Z")
I have a limited stomach capacity, and need 90g of protein a day. I’ve found I can eat more if I take my time, and it’s important for me to get all that protein in. So I tend to take my time. At home, it probably takes me 35-45 minutes to eat a meal; if I’m eating out with someone else, it’s not unusual for it to take more than an hour. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/6 "2009-11-20T13:57:06Z")
I eat too fast. I blame it on Elementary school. We had too many kids for the lunch room, so lunch was divided into three sections. Each had 15 minutes then was cleared out, but getting through the hot lunch line took up to ten minutes. So lunch was a shovel and horch down affair. And it just got to be ingrained as ‘how to eat’. Even today sometimes at a good restaurant I look down and realize I’ve eaten 90% of my plate in three minutes and nobody else has taken more than a bite or two. So then I have to fake-casually drag out the few bites of my entree for the remaining 27 minutes it will take everyone else to clean their plate. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/7 "2009-11-20T15:33:17Z")
I am always the last to finish so I guess pretty slow. It was a real problem when I was in the Army, I was always stashing food in various pouches so I could eat it later. I just learned to eat the unpouchable food first. My wife says its because I savor every bite. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/8 "2009-11-20T15:36:08Z")
Depends on if I’m dining alone, or with someone. Alone I suck it down in record time because there is no need for talking and other activities that interfere with caloric consumption. With my wife, I slow down, chat and enjoy the company. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/9 "2009-11-20T15:38:36Z")
If I’m with people and I’m having an animated conversation, I take forever to eat because I talk too much. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/10 "2009-11-20T16:20:01Z")
I blame my mach1 fork on the Air Force. We had a certain length of time to eat. If you weren’t finished you’d go hungry. It became a hard habit to break, made worse by hubby’s tunnel-borer appetite. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/11 "2009-11-20T17:38:04Z")
I have always been a slow eater compared to everyone I know. I picked the cow option. It can take me 1/2 hour to an hour to finish a normal-sized meal. If I am very hungry I can eat a bit faster. In contrast my boyfriend eats like a starving dog. I’ve never seen him eat for longer than 5 minutes at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/12 "2009-11-20T19:27:23Z")
That’s a nice bell curve shaping out. And I learned my too-fast habits from high school, where the cafeteria was loud and dangerous. So I would eat quick and hide in the Guidance Counselor’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/13 "2009-11-20T19:38:03Z")
Incredibly slow. I’m always the last to finish. Right now I’m eating a bean and cheese burrito and I’m about 3/4ths done and I started eating about 45 minutes ago. It has been several years since I finished a meal before it went cold even those small Banquet tv dinners. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/14 "2009-11-20T19:54:44Z")
I used to be Ninja. I’ve slowed down to a Ravenous dog in my non-teenage years… ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/15 "2009-11-21T01:47:03Z")
I eat pretty fast, because in college I didn’t have a lot of time between classes, and then I didn’t have a lot of free time at work, so I just scarfed it down. Now I’m in the habit, and if I slow down, my little boys start eyeballing my plate like little vultures. (Yeah, as if I don’t feed them… they’re looking for fourths after their third serving!) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/16 "2009-11-21T02:02:32Z")
If I’m by myself, I don’t eat, I inhale. In polite company I try to avoid that behavior as best I can. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/17 "2009-11-21T07:49:35Z")
Black Hole. Now you see it, now you don’t. I eat extremely fast. I’ve been like that all my life, have no idea why. I don’t mean to, I’m not aware of it, at least until somebody says “Jesus! You ate that ALREADY ??”, which has both angered and hurt me for 59 years. It’s possible for me to eat like “normal people”, but only with tremendous effort, awkwardness, and self-consciousness. I’m also honest enough to realize it’s a large part of the reason I’m obese. . ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/18 "2009-11-21T07:55:53Z")
I went for ravenous dog here–I eat very quickly, with a meal rarely lasting more than fifteen minutes. I blame it on school lunches. They tended to be fairly disgusting, so I sought to down them as soon as possible to get the pain out of the way quickly. It’s an unfortunate habit now, especially as I’m a sort of foodie-wannabe, but I’m not sure how to break it. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/19 "2009-11-21T10:07:47Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I went for ravenous dog here–I eat very quickly, with a meal rarely lasting more than fifteen minutes. I blame it on school lunches. They tended to be fairly disgusting, so I sought to down them as soon as possible to get the pain out of the way quickly. It’s an unfortunate habit now, especially as I’m a sort of foodie-wannabe, but I’m not sure how to break it. Here are some suggestions which I have gotten: 1. Chew at least 6 times per bite 2. If you are eating stuff with rice, use a fork instead of a spoon 3. …er, hi Opal? ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271/20 "2009-11-21T13:04:39Z")
As a kid my whole family always swore that I purposely “saved” food on my plate so I could be the last one still eating something everybody wanted. In spite of them, I deny it. I’m just always one of the last people to finish eating; I’m methodical (I eat every component so that it all lasts til the very end) and I’m never in a hurry. I like enjoying my food. And if I eat too fast, chances are good I’ll eat wayyyy too much and then I’ll feel ill and have to break out the Alka Seltzer…and indigestion puts me in a bad mood. So if I still have Item X left on my plate and you want it…? Well, you should’ve savored it the way I am. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-eat/518271.md?page=2)