Losing weight has long been a hot topic. The health complications of being overweight include type 2 diabetes, many cancers and heart disease. No wonder the whole world is launching a campaign to educate people that fat is unhealthy. 減肥一直都是熱門話題。肥胖導致的并發癥包括II型糖尿病、多種癌癥和心臟病。難怪全世界都興師動眾，教育人們肥胖是不健康的。

    Using chopsticks can help you lose weight, suggested The Chopsticks Diet, a new book published in Britain recently. According to the Japanese author Kimiko Barber, "Eating with chopsticks slows you down, and so you eat less."英國最近出版了一本名為《筷子減肥》的新書，該書認為使用筷子能幫助減肥。其英籍日裔作者巴伯貴美子認為，"用筷子進餐能減緩進食速度，這樣一來你吃的就少了。"

    Gobbing food makes us overeat beacause it takes our brain about 20 minutes to register what our stomach contains.人腦需約20分鐘才能辨識胃里有什么，因此狼吞虎咽易使人進食過量。

    So while Barber's book concerns itself with Japanese recipes, which tend to be lower in fat and served in smaller portions, using chopsticks should work with Western food too.雖然巴伯的書中關注的是日本的低脂肪小份量食譜，但對于西式食物，使用筷子應該同樣奏效。

    The Daily Telegraph's food writer Xanthe Clay takes a look at the theory. She writes:" It's a tempting theory. Could ditching the knife and fork really make one's weight healthier? Starting with a bag of crisps by the computer the method's charm emerges. For all but the most experienced users, it takes concentration. Watching carefully is vital if the plate-to-mouth transfer is to be made successfully. So there's no idly shoveling in rubbish while surfing the web."英國《每日電訊報》飲食專欄作者贊茜？克萊注意到該理論，她評論道："這是一項引人注目的理論。放棄刀叉真能讓人的體重達到更健康的水平么？我用電腦旁的一包薯片試了試，這招兒真的管用。除了筷子用得特別熟練的人，人們用筷子都得集中注意力。如果要成功地用筷子把食物從盤子里送到嘴里，就得仔細看著。這樣一來，上網時就不能懶洋洋地大嚼垃圾食品了。"

    "When it comes to proper meals, eating with chopsticks also means taking smaller mouthfuls, which tend to get chewed better, slowing down the meal, and making it easier to digest…""日常吃飯使用筷子還意味著要小口吃，這樣能更充分地咀嚼，減緩吃飯速度，更有利于食物消化……"

    "Then there's the matter of sauce. Delicious though they are, most sauces are the enemy of the waistline, loaded with butter and oil. If food is tackled with chopsticks, much of the evil sauces will stay on the plate. ""此外，就是醬汁啦。大部分醬汁都加有大量黃油和食用油，雖然很美味，卻是腰身的大敵。如果用筷子夾起食物，許多有害的醬汁都留在了盤子上。"

    "So, a chopstick regime will make you slow down, think about your food more, and maybe even lose weight. None of which can be a bad thing."所以，用筷子進食能讓你放慢速度，更多關注食物，甚至減肥。這些都不是壞事。"