Whole 30: Day 4 – Chewing Slowly
I had lunch with another old friend today who from the time we were young, always ate slowly and savored her food. She would always be the last one to leave the table, and I actually was always the first one to be done my food. This came from the different rate in which we chewed our food. She took multiple chews, I took maybe one or two haha.
Back in high school, I tried to get on my friend’s level and challenged myself to purposely eat slower. And man, that was hard! However, what I came to realize was that often, I sometimes like everyone ate fast out of hunger but in actuality, sometimes I ate fast out of the desire to be done eating and get on to being productive with other things.
It actually wasn’t until years later, after getting food poison/infection this past July, I was forced to eat slower and chew my food more carefully as my stomach was highly sensitive to everything I ate and needed more time to digest foods.
And guess what? After a few, short weeks of eating slower and allowing my food to settle and digest, I realized that: 1) I was eating less and 2) I felt fuller, longer.
You see by chewing slower, I was allowing my stomach to recognize it was becoming full and was sending a signal to my brain to tell me to stop eating because I was full. I also was allowing my body to take in more nutrients as the smaller digested particles made it easier for my intestines to absorb nutrients as they passed through my system.
And in the end, isn’t that what our end goal should be when choosing to eat nutritious foods? To actually allow our body to USE the nutrients in the food? To gain the fuel we need from what we eat and drink? The answer is and should always be, yes.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a New York Time’s Bestseller for his medical publications, there are seven reasons to take time to chew your food properly:
- Absorb more nutrients and energy from your food (has time to break down)
- Maintain a Healthy Weight (get fuller, quicker)
- Your Food gets more exposure to saliva (which contains digestive enzymes to help break down food)
- Easier Digestion (predigests your food into smaller particles)
- It’s Good for Your Teeth (bones and teeth are stronger, excess particles get removed by saliva)
- Less Excess Bacteria lingering in your stomach (from undigested food)
- Enjoy and Taste Your Food (savor the meal my friends, savor)
To access the full article, go here.
So how did lunch play out today? Who won the chewing race by eating slower – my friend or myself? Of course my friend did, but I finished only a couple minutes before her, which is what we would call in Crossfit: a “Personal Record.” And for any of you who know me, eating slower is definitely a great achievement for me.
PR – BOOM!
