Think about HOW you eat


Think about HOW you eat;  eating Mindfully and slowly
 
 
Many people eat quickly; in fact, many people eat too quickly. 

 
The digestion process starts in our mouths.  As we chew our food, a message is sent to the stomach that "food is on the way" and the stomach begins excreting gastric acid in preparation for the food to arrive.  When the stomach starts to break down the food, hormones are being sent back to the hypothalamus in the brain saying "getting full now".  The food then moves into the small intestine; the job of the small intestine is to absorb the nutrients from the food.  The job of the large intestine is to absorb water.
 
It is really important to chew food slowly and carefully.  If you don't chew properly, this alone will not make you gain weight; not chewing properly and eating too fast does result in your eating too much. 
 
When we chew quickly and swallow fast, the stomach isn't ready for the food.  The food lands in the stomach and as it is not being processed the way it is meant to, there is a delay in the stomach producing the gastric acid and then sending the "getting full" hormone to the brain.  This delay results in eating too much.  The stomach overfills and expands to cope with the food and by the time the hormone message is being sent, the stomach is already too full.
 
When we chew properly the food is broken down into smaller pieces and swallowed more easily, and then becomes coated in digestive juices in the stomach which aids digestion.
 
The other advantage of chewing longer is that the food stays in your mouth longer, your taste buds have more contact with the food and more pleasure is derived from the taste sensations.  And as the taste buds recognise the food, they send message to the brain about what the food is and therefore let's the stomach know which exact gastric juices to secrete.
 
The body is amazing !!  It does all these things all by itself.  Just needs a little help from us.
 
How can you eat mindfully?  eat slowly?
 
  1. one mouthful at a time, put your fork or spoon down in between - do not load up your fork before your mouth is empty
  2. take smaller mouthfuls so it is easier to chew
  3. think about what you are eating, identify and recognise the various tastes.
  4. use a smaller plate - your stomach is about the size of your clenched fist and that is about how much you need to eat.  Put all the food you intend to eat on one plate so that you are able to know what you will eat - no picking.  If you want to pick, put all those tasty pickings on one plate.
  5. focus on eating, not multi tasking
  6. use a small spoon, or small fork - this will help with smaller mouthfuls
These are just some ideas to get you started.  I'm sure you can think of more.  Please add your ideas and suggestions.  
 
Some years ago I was working with some fruit growers.  Do you know how long a peach, an apple, an orange, and vegetables, take to grow??
 
A peach, (or other fruit) starts as a small blossom bud and then becomes a full blown blossom.  After months of sunshine and rain it becomes a luscious tasting juicy peach.  The new season peaches are just arriving in the fruit shops.  How long do you think it should take to eat a peach ??  It took months to grow, do we honour that peach when we eat it with just a few bites, in less than a minute ?? 
 
Let's be mindful about how we eat.
 
Let's be Healthy Wealthy together !!
Posted by Healthy Wealthy at 9/28/2009 2:57 PM
Categories: Healthy Wealthy e-zine
Tags: mindfulness lose weight eating healthy slow food slow eating grow my business
 

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