COUNT YOUR CHEWS

Healthy Bitch Daily Vegan Recipes, Healthy Food, Women's Fitness,

 

How Chewing Your Food is Related to Weight Loss

         

Remember back in the day when mom used to tell you to chew your food?

You rolled your eyes and looked at the ole’ ball and chain like, Mamma, please. Talk to the hand because your daughter don’t understand. Come to find out, Mom actually had a good point – one that will mean much more to you now than it did when you were 5 years old, sneaking broccoli to the dog.

In looking at our current interactions with food, our bellies have gotten bigger, and for many of us, digestion is off. We automatically think that the way to remedy that situation is to cut the calories and hit the gym like GI Jane. But, there’s another route and it can all be boiled down to three words: Chew your food.

You feel satisfied. First of all, chewing your food makes you realize you are full and satiated. When you feel full and satisfied, you will be more likely to eat only what you need to instead of raiding the cabinets at the end of the night for those Girl Scout cookies you’ve stowed away for emergencies.

You get more nutrients and energy. The more you chew your food, the more nutrients and energy you absorb from your food. When you chew, you extract about 15 to 25-percent of the nutrients inside the plant’s cells.

Your brain speaks up. Chewing your food properly also allows your brain to send the message to your gut in a timely manner that you are done eating. It silences that little devil sitting atop your shoulder that tells you it’s fine to have that extra bite. By chewing properly, your brain has already had time to realize that your stomach is full.

You improve digestion. By chewing, your saliva breaks down food more efficiently to emulsify it before it hits your stomach. So, your stomach has less work to do.

Here are some things you can do to chew your food the right way:
1. Chew each bite of food 35 times. On average, people chew each bite of food about five to 10 times!
2. Rests in between bites. Focus more on each bite in your mouth rather than on the bite you are about to take.
3. Take a drink. Wash down bites with small sips of room-temperature water so that you can taste your next.
4. Smell your food. Nothing dramatic here, but if you slow down, you will automatically take in more of the aroma of your food which satisfies another one of your senses.