People who increased the number of times they chewed their food before swallowing ate less over the course of a meal, in a new study.

Slow eaters tend to be slimmer.

Prospective study participants were asked to consume five portions of Totino's pizza rolls and count the number of times they chewed each roll. Researchers did not tell them what specifically was being tested in the study.

Forty-seven people went on to finish the study. Sixteen were a normal weight, 16 were overweight and 15 were obese.

Those participants attended three weekly lunchtime test sessions. On each day, researchers gave them 60 pizza rolls and told them to eat until they were full. Depending on the session, researchers asked people to chew every bite the same number of times as at their test visit, 50 percent more or twice as many times, Newsmax Health reports.

They also asked participants how full they were feeling before, during and after each lunch session.

Researchers found people ate about 10 percent less food, corresponding to 70 fewer calories, when they increased their chewing by 50 percent.

Normal-weight participants ate more slowly than overweight and obese participants.