Did you know that it takes approximately seven minutes before your stomach tells your brain that you're no longer hungry? This means that by eating fast without properly chewing your food, you're taking in much more food than your body requires. Without a doubt, chewing is the easiest and most beneficial thing that you can do to improve your health. You don't believe me? After I explain how, try it out for yourself and I guarantee that you'll not only feel better but your appearance will benefit from it too.



As you may already know, saliva begins the digestion process and if food is not chewed properly, this process is bypassed. Most people have a bad habit of devouring their food, washing it down with soda, juice or whatever else they like to drink. This is more harmful than a person may think, because not only are they washing the food down in a more solid state, but drinking cold fluids with and after meals solidify the food and make it's journey to the stomach slow and unwholesome. Once the food glop reaches the stomach, the acids will not be able to break it down properly and most of it will be absorbed into the intestine and turn to fat. It is best not to drink during meals, but to wait at least a half hour after eating. When you do drink something, it should be hot such as tea or soup.

It is said that food should be thoroughly chewed, meaning at least 25-50 times before swallowing so that it is appropriately mixed with saliva. Therefore, it is important to take your time and eat at a relaxed pace--besides, what's the rush? If you do not allow the digestion process to begin in the mouth by properly chewing, then it doesn't begin until further along the digestive tract and you'll actually be cheating your body out of a large portion the nutritional value. The amount of food that you eat is not important, but rather the amount that your body assimilates.

It is a fact that only about 10% of food eaten by the average American is assimilated by the body. Increasing that percentage will not only improve your health but since you've learned that you wont need to eat as much, it can actually save you some money. By simply following the whole ?chewing your food? routine, you can easily raise that pathetic 10% to 40%-50%.

If you happen to be one of those people who when they do something they do it to extreme, just relax and listen closely. The digestive system needs bulk in order to remain in good shape, so by chewing everything until it is liquid won't do you any good. In fact, if your body does not receive bulk on a regular basis it may cause your intestine to become indolent. Bulk (or fiber) is what stimulates peristalsis'an action of the intestines. On that note, chew your food thoroughly but don't go overboard. Don't be afraid to swallow a chunk of food here and there. You know the saying ?Too much of anything is no good?; it applies to this as well.

How fast you eat your food plays a huge role on your weight as well. In one study 15 young women were given plates of food and were told to enjoy it the way they normally would. In the first sitting, they were told to eat fast and in the second sitting they were told to slow down and chew each bite slowly. The results were astonishing. In the first sitting where they were told to eat fast, they consumed 63 calories more in 7 minutes than they did eating slow in the second sitting, which took approximately 27 minutes. Eating slow will also leave you feeling physically satisfied longer and will make your meal more enjoyable. It seems as if people have forgotten to enjoy their food and it is a huge contributing factor to the rise of obesity today. We eat all the time, everywhere we go; in the car, on the bus, watching T.V. We are so use to shoving food in our mouths that we subconsciously do it while we are busy doing other things. Every time we turn around we're looking to race?; a race to acquire the food and a race to eating it as fast as possible.

When you take the time to enjoy your food, you actually enrich your eating experience. You give your taste buds an opportunity to be able to fully register all of the flavors and you will consciously be able to take pleasure in the many different textures and other surprises that only ?chewing? can bring. So why not do yourself one of the smallest but highest beneficial favors that you can possibly do and chew your food. After all, it's not like I'm telling you that you should stop eating?gosh!