While putting together our recent feature on making healthier choices during the holiday season, apparently, we neglected to include one very important lesson learned in a recent study about the digestive issues associated with overeating.

Based on recent discoveries that gut hormones -- peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) -- released after a meal trigger satiety (feeling full) on the brain, European scientists measured their effect in relation to how quickly 17 adult males consumed a test meal, a 10-ounce serving of ice cream.

Blood samples measuring glucose, gut hormones, insulin and plasma lipids were taken before the meal and at 30-minute intervals after patients began to eat until the end of the study period, close to four hours later. The duration of the meal, according to the study, was either 5 minutes or 30 minutes.

Male patients who took more time to finish their ice cream -- ideally the 30-minute mark -- had higher concentrations of both GLP-1 and PYY gut hormones and reported more fullness. Just another reminder, the foods you eat -- especially the fatty ones -- eventually travel to and affect your brain one way or another.

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism October 29, 2009

ScienceDaily November 4, 2009