Why do we have to take 30 minutes to eat a meal? Do you?

I follow all the rules, chewing very thoroughly, small bites.. but no matter what I eat, I can't make a meal last 30 minutes. So I'm asking, is there a health reason behind it? I don't want to be doing something to hurt myself. I'm 7 weeks post op.

It takes about that long for the "I'm full" signals to reach your brain from your stomach.  So if you eat too fast, you're more likely to overeat because you're not giving your system enough time to process the full communication.  

I understand that, but I weigh out my portions before I sit down. So I know I won't overeat regardless of if i feel full or not. I have good willpower that way. Thanks for letting me know about it.

What Gwen wrote is absolutely true. Ghrelin is the hormone that signals hunger, not fullness.

You feel full when your stomach expands, pressing against a nerve, and the nerve sends a signal to the brain that you are full. It takes 20 to 30 minutes for that to happen.

If you eat faster, you can cram more in before the signal reaches the brain. That'sucks why we are supposed to eat slowly.

Right now, you won'the feel full because that nerve has been cut. No signal.

When you eat a small amount, or drink liquid calories, slider foods, or pureed foods, your stomach also will not expand, and your brain will never feel the full signal. That's why, once you are cleared for solid foods, you should avoid slider foods, liquid calories, and grazing.

The long term rule is, dense protein first. Your stomach will expand nicely with chicken, steak, etc. You will feel full and happy for hours. Drink a 500 calorie crappahino or eat a sleeve of crackers, you will be dying for more.

Building good habits now, when it's easy, is important.  

Sorry, but the part of the stomach that makes ghrelin is removed, that is the chemical that tells the brain the stomach is full, so this information is not correct

http://www.laparoscopic.md/sleeve/what-digestive-changes-occur-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery

Gherlin IS produced elsewhere in the body - anyone that claims you will never feel hungry post-op is lying to you.  (And it controls hunger, not fullness.)  

Citation - any anatomy textbook ever.  

Know one said all gherlin was removed, butt the main part of production in the body is, and in answering the question at hand, you information was wrong, best to give correct information, and correct incorrect. Just making statements like " source any medical journal" is a Trump like tactic, it proves nothing, and suggest you couldn't quote information to support you responce that eating for 30 minutes is because of hormones being sent to the brain. In light of several others clearly being told 20 minute maximum meals, it certainly seems less than likely why someone was told to spend 30 minutes eating. No one said, you will never feel hunger again, that tactic of arguing a different point or subject, also, doesn't answer the question or prove your information is mistaken. The reason. The Time Period is given is to help in digestion, as food remains in the sleeve a shorter time than a normal stomach, and proteins need to be broken down. Allowing for a longer meal, allows small amounts of food to get alone time in the pouch, before more is added, after about 30 minutes proteins will start to pass yhrew, at that point we stop eating because we are simply refilling the pouch.

http://blog.obesityfree.com/what-happens-to-the-hunger-hormone-ghrelin-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery

Please for give typos, I have a predict a text problem with my phone, source anyone who uses predict a text!

Ghrelin is an aminoacid produced in the stomach, especially in the portion known as gastric fundus, found in the upper part of the organ. It is also produced by the first portion of the small intestine (duodenum). This aminoacid is a hormone known as orexigenic (stimulates appetite).

What is ghrelin and how it works?

When the hormone ghrelin is released, signals are sent to our brain in order to make the person feel the urge to eat in search of satiety sensation. In many obese patients, ghrelin secretion levels are altered and this consequently makes them feel they need to eat more than they actually really require. We explain in depth below:

The levels of this hormone are increased before food intake and subsequently decrease in proportion to the amount of calorie intake; ghrelin levels increase when a person is dieting and this is why it plays a very important role in the long-term regulation of body weight since patients undergoing diets suffer to maintain them over long periods of time.

What happens with obese individuals is that ghrelin levels are relatively low even when they have not eaten and these levels remain low even after eating. In other words changes in ghrelin levels in obese patients are less marked or intense than with normal weight people after food intake so the appetite sensation persists or returns sooner despite having eaten enough food.

http://blog.obesityfree.com/what-happens-to-the-hunger-hormone-ghrelin-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery