Mindful Chewing

Let’s talk about chewing! Yes, that’s right, chewing our food. I read somewhere that someone was going to start Mindfully Chewing their food. Each bite. Savoring it, chewing it and enjoying it in the process.

In my functional nutrition classes they talk about chewing as being an important part of our health. What? Have you ever heard that? Do you know why?

Well, interesting enough, chewing IS so very important to our health and here’s why!!

Turns out the process of digestion is an energy sucker from our bodies. As we are digesting our food we are using up more energy at those times that with any other activity. So if we can help the digestive process along a bit, we will end up with more energy. Pretty crazy idea isn’t it? To simple?

Well here’s the facts. When we chew our food, the act of chewing is causing a cascade of different things to start to happen lower in our digestive system. As we chew our stomachs are preparing for the food by producing HCL acid so that when the food get there it can be digested easier and broken down into those tiny particles our bodies can actually use. (You know if you eat a steak or a piece of chicken and you swallow it down, your body can’t utilize that piece of meat entering your bloodstream whole like that. Right?). We have to break it down, tear it apart, digest it and make it turn into all those wonderful amino acids it’s made up of. That’s the only part of that steak your body can use to keep us well. Just the amino acids from within it, broken down and digested by what? Our amazing digestive systems!!

So back to chewing…………….As we chew our food not only is our stomach creating the HCL acid, but the chewing action is kicking our pancreas into gear to produce all those enzymes that we have to have to break that food down. Different enzymes for different kinds of food has to be produced and enough of it, so it can do it’s job.

Chewing actually rips and tears that food apart, mashing it with our tongue, moving it around in our mouths and the more we chew the more surface area of that food is going to be available for all those enzymes and HCL acid to work it’s magic in our stomachs.

The saying is……….”Drink your solids, Chew your liquids”. So chew your solids until they become liquid in your mouth, your stomach and entire digestive system will thank you. Also chew your liquids because they have to be broken down too, so prepare your body to do that by giving them a few chews before you swallow.

I reason I say Mindful Chewing is because if you start to practice this, you will see that it really takes mindfulness to ‘remember’ to do it. But if you do, you will find that you will feel fuller with less food because your brain has time to catch up to the food being put in their and that little hormone that kicks in to say your full, may actually be able to do it’s job more efficiently.

So try it and let me know what goes on as you try. I’ve some interesting experiences with my mindful chewing exercises and hope to make it a lifelong habit from now on.