Three Reasons to Take Your Time When Eating
Let’s face it — life has gotten busy. With all the hustle and bustle of things to do in this fast-paced, technologically driven world we live in, being able to take your time with any task is a luxury. That being said, taking your time when it’s time to eat — whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack between meals — should be a priority. So, what does it mean to ‘take your time when eating, and why should you do it?
First of all, it’s important to understand that the act of chewing is the very thing that kickstarts your metabolism and allows the body to prepare for digestion. Think of it as a way for the brain to let the stomach know that there is food incoming, and the stomach then has a head start on being ready to receive and process each bite properly as it passes through the system. Taking the time to chew your food instead of wolfing it down in big gulps allows each part of the body to activate and do its job efficiently as the food passes through, which will help the body’s metabolism be most effective.
Secondly, when you begin to chew your food, your mouth begins to salivate, and the more you chew, the more saliva is produced. This is an important part of the digestion process, as saliva helps to break down the food into smaller, softer pieces that won’t put a strain on the esophagus as it passes through. Saliva production also helps with the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and epithelial growth factor (EGF), which helps to nourish the gut.
Not chewing enough means that the body’s digestive system now has to take longer to deal with larger food particles in the digestive tract, taking more time to break down, turn into energy, or pass out of the body. This results in all sorts of unpleasant feelings like bloating, gas and constipation. Since larger chunks of food take longer to break down, this could encourage bacterial overgrowth and affect overall gut health. This means you could also experience headaches, decreased energy, or a feeling of lethargy after eating too much too quickly.
Finally, taking your time to eat will help prevent you from eating too much and piling on unnecessary weight. It takes about 20 minutes for the body to register the feeling of being full, so imagine if you were to take just a little bit longer on every bite, chewing carefully and breaking down every morsel of food; your appetite would still be satisfied, having eaten less food in the same amount of time. This has an array of positive knock-on effects, including increased energy due to efficient digestion and optimum metabolism, and no bloating, heaviness, brain fog, or gas. The body won’t be working overtime to break down bits of food that should never have gotten past the tonsils in the first place.
So, why not give it a try and slow down just a little bit when it comes to those all-important mealtimes? Savor every bite by chewing just that little bit longer and just that little bit slower with every portion. Your body and your brain will thank you for it in the long run.
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