Whoa, Sally

 You’ve probably heard that chewing your chow slowly can help you lose weight, but now we know just how many calories you save by putting down your fork between bites.  University of Rhode Island researchers had 30 women east pasta with tomato sauce on two different days.  On day 1, they ate without letting their fork touch the table until they were full. On day 2, they set their utensil down between mouthfuls and chewed 15 to 20 times.  The calorie total on the first day averaged 646 in 9 minutes; on the second, just 579 in 29 minutes.  Researchers say eating slowly gives your stomach time to realize it’s full before you’ve consumed too much.  And about 70 fewer calories per meal adds up to 210 calories per day-a net loss of 2 pounds per month!

Euro Fat

 Though the US takes the (three-layer chocolate) cake as the fattest country, with our average BMI 28, many European nations’ expanding booties aren’t far behind.  Find out who ranks among European’s heavyweights.  Then hate the pasta-loving Italians for being the slimmest in the E.U.

Italy                  24.3

France              24.5

Poland 24.8

Netherlands      24.9

Belgium            25.1

U.K.                25.4

Denmark          25.5

Hungary           25.6

Finland 25.8

Greece             25.9

Fat Scanning

Even skinny minnies may have a high percentage of harmful body fat. “You can appear slim but have lots of fat around and inside your organs, which increases your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” says Jimmy Bell, Ph.D., a scientist at London’s Medical Research Council.  A new MRI “fat scan” can detect how much of the bad stuff you’re storing and where.  Though most newer MRI machines are capable of measuring fat, only three centers – in Dallas, New York, and San Diego – are using them just for this purpose, and currently only for research.  Scientists are hoping to determine what factors – genetic and environmental – make some people more likely to store fat internally.