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Why you should chew-who-knew?

February 15, 2018 by Yuriko

For instance, if you are health conscious and eating everything organic, it sounds very good. But if you don’t chew enough, the food can’t be broken down sufficiently in your mouth. This means that your body has to use extra energy and enzymes to further break down the food in order to get nutrients out. Otherwise your body may not fully absorb nutrients, no matter how good the quality of food is. The bottom line is that if you are not absorbing nutrients, the body can’t function properly.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Look at your food

Digestion starts by looking at your food before putting it in your mouth. Your brain gets signals via the optic nerve and stimulates saliva flow to prepare your body for digestion. Saliva contains amylase, the digestive enzyme, which is needed for breaking down carbohydrates into glucose – our energy source.

Chew about 30 times

Chewing food sufficiently aids efficient, and easier, digestion. Mixing saliva with food also helps digestive juices release from your stomach. If you don’t have enough stomach acid your body struggles to absorb vital nutrients such as minerals, including magnesium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12. Chewing a lot also slows you down. If you eat very fast, slowing down helps you to catch leptin’s (the satiety hormone) message telling you that you are full, therefore preventing over eating.
 
Enjoy every mouthful

Use all your senses for full experience of eating (chewing and swallowing) – visual, smell, taste, texture, temperature, and sensation. Engage with your food and explore how you’re feeling while eating. This helps to optimise your digestion and balances your hormone activities by promoting the parasympathetic nervous system.
 
This is commonly known as mindful eating. Appreciating your food is a good practice for your Soul.

Of course, there are foods that we should be eating and avoiding, but as you can see “healthy food” doesn’t = health if there are missing pieces.
 
Eating the right things has to go with good eating habits for optimal digestion and health.

If you are looking to improve your overall health, start chewing more, eat slowly, and enjoy every mouthful!

Yuriko, who is a naturopathnutritional therapist, reflexologist, reiki practitioner and a massage therapist offering various types of massage, including pregnancy massage, is available most days at Holistic Health. To book a treatment please call Holistic Health on 020 7275 8434 or email us.

We look forward to seeing you soon!
 
Big love,
Tracy and the Holistic Health Team xx


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