Chew, Chew, Chew

During this personal quest of mine for better health I am finding that "self-awareness" is a key component. For example, in my last blog I talked about reading labels and keeping track of how much sugar you're actually eating daily. I'd love to hear from any of you who are doing this and if you were surprised by what you found. When we become more aware of what's going into our mouths it's amazing how our usual habits start to change, little by little.

Today, I'm going to ask you another question: "How many times do you chew a mouthful of food when you're eating?" Now, you may be thinking this is sort of a strange question but do me a favour and, tonight when you're eating supper, count how many times you chew each bite.
Digestion of food begins in our mouths - in fact, it's one of the most important steps in the digestive process. And, let's face it, if your food isn't being properly digested and just sits like a lump inside you you're bound to have symptoms like indigestion and uncomfortable feelings of fullness. Worse than that, because the food isn't being broken down properly, your body is not getting the nutritional value from that food that it so desperately needs to function. Poor digestion leads to many chronic ailments like a weakened immune system, allergies, chronic fatigue, arthritis, insomnia, joint and muscle pain, and skin disorders. Quite often, symptoms that we think are just from getting older, can be eliminated by changing how we eat and what we eat.
To make sure your digestive system has a fighting chance to work properly, you should chew soft foods 5 to 10 times and harder foods like meat up to 30 times before swallowing. When I first started counting my own bites it was quite funny! My hubby had always teased me about how fast I ate, saying I "inhaled" my food. He was almost right! My average number of "chews" was about 5 - including meat! Wow! Now I'm really trying to chew, chew, chew and I'm finding that 1) I don't eat as much before I feel full and 2) it takes longer to eat so I'm relaxing more during the meal which is important too.
Another important point that surprised me (but makes sense) is you shouldn't drink water or other beverages, like a big glass of milk with meals. Doing so actually slows down digestion because the liquid dilutes the stomach acids and they aren't as strong as they need to be to do the best job. Drink your fluids 20-30 minutes BEFORE or AFTER the meal.

Who knew feeding ourselves was so complicated? I hope you're trying some of the things I'm throwing out there and please let me know if any of it's making a difference in how you feel. I know it is for me. Feel free to email me with your comments or observations: seawellness@hotmail.com


Until next week, enjoy the last long weekend of summer! Let's hope we get decent weather!



Mary-Lou
www.seawellness.myforevergreen.org/CAN_Products.html