Evolution of Love 2

Eating Habits

We have teeth to chew food. To break it down. To masticate it. To salivate it. Teeth facilitate cutting, tearing, chewing and grinding of food particles into smaller parts. Think of your mouth like a mixer-grinder.

We have a stomach to further digest the food. We may often think of the stomach as a mixer-grinder too, but what it really does, is it heats up the food (like an oven) & bathes the food in gastric acid (hydrochloric acid) to break it down further. When digestive activity is at its peak in the stomach, its pH level is close to 1, similar to that of battery acid!🔋

🐢When we chew slowly & mindfully, we allow our salivary glands to bathe the food with saliva - which, with its enzymes (amylase and lipase), makes the food digestible as it goes further down through the oesophagus into the stomach. There is an old saying that “you have 32 teeth, chew your food 32 times”3️⃣2️⃣. Food that is properly chewed so as to become a liquid paste, is easy on the digestive system starting with the stomach.

👨‍💻👩‍💻Think of your body as an office where multiple departments work on the same file (here, food) one after the other. In an office sometimes files reaching your desk are incomplete because the preceding department hasn’t done their work. Once in a while, you’ll put up with it. But if it happens day after day, you revolt. That’s what happens with acid reflux, bloating, indigestion - it’s the stomach throwing up its hands in despair. 🥴 It can’t stand it anymore that the preceding department (here, the mouth) is sending partially-chewed food down to it all the time. The stomach needs to then work extra-hard to digest these big particles of food. Designed also as an oven, it has to then raise the temperature far more than it would have had to earlier, in the process creating discomfort.

⏳So, if you can spend a few extra minutes on your health today, spend them on chewing more. Making sure that what you are sending down is water-like and a fine paste. Your stomach & your body will thank you for it.

🎀BONUS - To chew your food properly, you have to, well, eat slowly. When you slow down, you will feel fuller, sooner. And your food intake will naturally align itself with your “requirements”. You will feel lighter & energetic after a meal - not heavy/stuffed/lethargic. In the long run and with consistent practice of chewing slowly & eating the right foods, your weight will manage itself.

So, count your chews, not your calories :)