Do you find yourself rushing through your meals? How often is eating done on the run while trying to accomplish all the other items on your to do list? Do you browse through your phone or watch television while you eat? Do you chew twice and swallow? If you answer yes to any of these questions then you may be limiting your body’s ability to properly digest and absorb nutrients.
These tips may seem simple and silly, but they will really help improve your digestion and nutrient absorption. They are foundational to proper and healthy digestion.
- Drink a glass of water 30 minutes before the meal.
- Sit down for your meals and turn off the TV and put away your phone.
- Take a few seconds before you start eating to enjoy the look and smell of your food.
- Give thanks for the meal or spend a few minutes doing meditative deep breathing.
- Chew your food for at least 20 bites before you swallow.
Here is why these tips will help:
Digestion starts in the brain! Just the smell or sight of food can get the digestive juices flowing. Most people have walked into the kitchen while a meal is cooking and had the experience of their mouths salivating and their tummies grumbling. Salivation is one of the ways that our bodies prepare for the food that we are going to eat. Our saliva is full of enzymes that break down our food into smaller digestible nutrients; and breaking down the food with our teeth and properly salivating our food is an important step in the digestive process. If the food is not properly broken down then the digestive burden is put on the stomach to break it down. Longer time in the stomach can mean gas and bloating. No one wants that! It also means that foods might move into the small intestine in pieces that are not fully broken down. This can lead to leaky gut and digestive discomfort. We also won’t be able to absorb all the vitamins and minerals from that food.
Digestion works best when we eat in in a slow and calm state. If we are in a sympathetic state, or a “fight or flight” state, then all of the energy that we need for digestion is diverted away to deal with the crises at hand. Whether the stressor is real or imagined, this state disrupts digestion in a way that can cause us trouble all the way down the digestive pathway. When we approach a meal in a calm state, we are telling our bodies that there is no impending doom and we can use the energy needed to digest our food. The body can relax and do what is needed to break our food down and absorb all the lovely nutrients we have provided it.
Taking our time and giving our meal the attention it deserves can also help us to eat more intuitively. I know that for me, if I am distracted, I will eat much more than if I am focused on eating. Who hasn’t looked down halfway through a movie and noticed that they have finished off an entire bag of chips or cookies. Eating with intention will help us to recognize when we are full so that we don’t overeat and overburden our system with more than we need.
Don’t believe me? Try these steps for the next two weeks and let me know if your digestion improves! Let me know in the comments below if you have other tips or suggestions!