Chewing the Fat - How You Eat May Be As Important As What You Eat
The average adult has thirty two teeth.
Those, combined with saliva, are the first step in the digestive process.
But many people don't take the time to begin that process correctly, and it really can impact what you get out of the foods that you eat.
That's right, I am retelling the same thing my mamma always told me.
"Chew your food Robert! You'll choke to death eating like that.
" Right after high school (five days later) I was in basic training in the US Army and "hoo-rah" they only gave us five minutes to eat.
Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, five minutes and you were clearing the table and heading on to the next piece of your day.
They had to have us in and out quickly at Fort Leonard Wood because lots of people had to share the same mess hall, but I'm sure they didn't really care about the impact it had on digestion.
Chewing your food thoroughly is the beginning of digestion and not doing that really impacts you in a bunch of ways.
I'm only going to concentrate on the fist two, because I think they are the most important factors.
The purpose of mastication is to break down the food into small particles so that the enzymes in your system can break it down even further to allow your body to get the nutrients out of what you eat.
Your stomach, for all it's acidic might, is not designed to handle large pieces of food, and thus will pass on some bits undigested into your intestines.
You get very little nutrients out of that, and it is really abusive to your internal digestive process.
So that's point number one - get more nutrients out of your food and make digestion easier by chewing your food thoroughly.
Point number two - You will eat more food if you eat more quickly.
It takes the brain about fifteen minutes to get the "all full" signal from your digestive system.
So think about that for a minute.
You could be eating fifteen minutes while your body was already satiated.
This is the culprit as you are struggling to get up from the table, bloated and groaning clutching your stomach and complaining about eating too much.
Slow down.
The easiest ways to slow down are to chew more times, and put down your fork.
To break my speed eating habit, I found that simply putting the utensils down between bites slowed the whole process down.
When you slow the process down, perhaps you will even taste the food more, and enjoy your meals more.
Someone went to the trouble of preparing that meal; you should take your time and savor it.
These are really easy things to add to your routine.
They will help you to enjoy your food more, digest better and lose weight.
Eating more slowly decreases the number of calories you consume, and when it gets right down to it, the number of calories you consume often have a direct affect on your waistline.
Those, combined with saliva, are the first step in the digestive process.
But many people don't take the time to begin that process correctly, and it really can impact what you get out of the foods that you eat.
That's right, I am retelling the same thing my mamma always told me.
"Chew your food Robert! You'll choke to death eating like that.
" Right after high school (five days later) I was in basic training in the US Army and "hoo-rah" they only gave us five minutes to eat.
Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, five minutes and you were clearing the table and heading on to the next piece of your day.
They had to have us in and out quickly at Fort Leonard Wood because lots of people had to share the same mess hall, but I'm sure they didn't really care about the impact it had on digestion.
Chewing your food thoroughly is the beginning of digestion and not doing that really impacts you in a bunch of ways.
I'm only going to concentrate on the fist two, because I think they are the most important factors.
The purpose of mastication is to break down the food into small particles so that the enzymes in your system can break it down even further to allow your body to get the nutrients out of what you eat.
Your stomach, for all it's acidic might, is not designed to handle large pieces of food, and thus will pass on some bits undigested into your intestines.
You get very little nutrients out of that, and it is really abusive to your internal digestive process.
So that's point number one - get more nutrients out of your food and make digestion easier by chewing your food thoroughly.
Point number two - You will eat more food if you eat more quickly.
It takes the brain about fifteen minutes to get the "all full" signal from your digestive system.
So think about that for a minute.
You could be eating fifteen minutes while your body was already satiated.
This is the culprit as you are struggling to get up from the table, bloated and groaning clutching your stomach and complaining about eating too much.
Slow down.
The easiest ways to slow down are to chew more times, and put down your fork.
To break my speed eating habit, I found that simply putting the utensils down between bites slowed the whole process down.
When you slow the process down, perhaps you will even taste the food more, and enjoy your meals more.
Someone went to the trouble of preparing that meal; you should take your time and savor it.
These are really easy things to add to your routine.
They will help you to enjoy your food more, digest better and lose weight.
Eating more slowly decreases the number of calories you consume, and when it gets right down to it, the number of calories you consume often have a direct affect on your waistline.
Source...