A study by researchers from the University of Rhode Island confirms the long-held belief that slow eating reduces intake of food. Moreover, the research suggests that chewing each mouthful 15 to 20 times makes the meal enjoyable and leaves the eater with a feeling of satiety for a longer time.

The concept that eating slower restricts appetite has been bandied about for decades, but there was been no scientific evidence to prove it.

But the recent study reported at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity in October, provides direct relation between slow eating and less calorie intake.

To investigate whether slowing down while eating decreased calorie consumption, researchers gave 30 college-aged-women large plates of pasta and told them to eat as much as they wanted.

When the participants were asked to eat quickly, they consumed 646 calories in nine minutes. But when they were told to slow down and chew the food 15 to 20 times, their calorie consumption was reduced to average 579 calories in 29 minutes.

"Satiety signals clearly need time to develop," Kathleen Melanson, lead author of the study told LiveScience.com.

Melanson said that eating slowly not only reduced calorie consumption, it also provided "a greater feeling of satiety at meal completion and 60 minutes afterwards."

The women also judged themselves as having enjoyed the meal more when they ate slowly than when they ate quickly, Melanson added.