What a Nigersaurus Taqueti that Sucked Up Food like a Vacuum Can Teach Us About Eating Slowly

A new dinosaur was recently discovered, and it's a little different than the dinosaurs we currently know of because it has one special feature: It could suck food up just like a vacuum. Called the Nigersaurus Taqueti, the dinosaur was the size of an elephant and was named after the French paleontologist, Phillippe Taquet. The interesting thing is that even though this dinosaur sucked up food like a vacuum, it didn't gulp it down. So we can learn some things about eating slowly from the Nigersarus.

Even though we can eat fast, we don't have to

A vacuum cleaner sucks up dirt from the average person's carpet so many times per second and the Nigersaurus no doubt could do the same thing. However, the Nigersaurus's mouth was built to chew its food over and over again. And that's because inside the mouth of a Nigersaurus were hundreds of tiny sharp teeth that could be used to grind up food. So that means that even though a Nigersaurus could suck the food down, it didn't. Instead, it chewed and chewed.

So like the Nigersaurus, we humans have to chew our food slowly in order to get the best benefits for our bodies. Chewing food more slowly not only helps people to lose weight, but it also helps their bodies to absorb the nutrients in food better. Many studies show that chewing food more slowly can lead to a reduced caloric intake. Also, chewing food more slowly can lead to an increased sense of fullness.

For instance, in one study, 30 average weight women of college age were asked to eat a large bowl of pasta. One occasion, these women were asked to eat the food quickly. On another occasion, they were asked to eat the food a lot more slowly. When the group ate quickly, in only nine minutes, they consumed 646 calories. When the group ate more slowly, they consumed 579 calories in 29 minutes.

That means the Nigersaurus Taqueti was on to something years ago when it had the ability to suck its food up quickly, but the design to chew it's food thoroughly.

And we don't have to eat all of the red meat and fried chicken we can get our hands on.

The Nigersaurus Taqueti was also a plant eater. That means he didn't use his vacuuming powers to suck up other smaller dinosaurs around him. We too, should eat less meat and more fruits and vegetable to help us fight high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and different types of cancers.