True Health Balance

How many times did you hear from your mother to chew your food? Turns out she really knew what she was talking about. Unfortunately most of us do not chew properly. We live our life’s in this eat and run mode. We treat meals like an inconvenience. In our minds, eating has become a necessary evil. We have gotten into a pattern of speed eating, but how did it start? I believe that good old mom did a pretty good job slowing us down, but I believe that school was our downfall. They hurdle kids into the lunch room like cattle and give them very little time to eat. What makes it worse is recess is usually shortly after, so the quicker you eat, the quicker you can get to the more important tag and dodge ball events outside.  You now live your life is a stress mode. If we could cut out eating from out busy schedule, we would. Fast food companies know this. They prey on our stressful lives. They have us right where they want us, with our money in their pockets. Keep in mind, as we go on, that our nutrition is limited first by the proper function of our factory, digestion. Poor digestion means poor health.

What I would like to do is point out some common sense, as well as a bit of technical information on why we should chew our food. Most of us don’t give chewing our food a second thought. We chew just enough to get it down without choking.  So right away, our common sense rears its wonderful head with my last statement. That little alert bell goes off in our head. Maybe that is just the old memories of mom telling us to slow down and chew. One thing she left out is, “WHY?”

Let’s see if I can fill that gap. Most people think your stomach is the first step in food digestion. This is not true. I bet you are thinking that I am going to say chewing is the first step. Nope, Wrong again. Your brain is actually the first step. It uses thought in conjunction with the two senses that are sight and smell to begin the wonderful process of digestion. The first phase is called the Cephalic phase. Neurogenic signals that cause the cephalic phase of gastric secretion originate from the cerebral cortex and in the appetite centers of the amygdala and hypothalamus. Say what??? Ya, I had to float some big words past you. Basically your brain prepares your stomach to digest food by churning up the digestive juices. This phase of secretion normally accounts for about 20 percent of the gastric secretion associated with eating a meal.

Now your teeth take over and crush the food into smaller particles. The next question most people ask me is how many times to I need to chew. I am not into the counting thing. I think that is a bit ridicules. I will tell you a better way. The simple rule to follow is if you can identify the food in your mouth by the sense of touch, your teeth have not done their job. Keep chewing. While we are chewing, the food is moving over the taste buds in your mouth. The taste buds are sending signals to your brain which in turn will release the proper digestive enzymes into your mouth and stomach. Different types of foods will need different enzymes. Carbohydrates need the enzyme “salivary amylas” Proteins need the enzyme “proteinase”  Fats need fat-digesting enzyme called lingual lipase.

So what happens if you do not chew well?

• The more you chew your food, the less time it needs to spend in your stomach being bombarded with acid. Chewing your food allows your saliva to cover more surface area of what you're trying to consume. If you don't chew as well, these enzymes don't have the ability to break down starches (providing you with energy) or start digesting fats (leaving them partially unprocessed). You’ll receive less energy and feel more sluggish as a result.
• Large pieces of food move through your system allowing for bacteria growth. This in turn creates gas and bad breath. Ask someone that has bad breath if they take time to chew their food.
• If the food is not broken down, much needed nutrients cannot be absorbed by the body

Take time to enjoy your food. Make sure you are not feeling stressed when you do eat. I highly recommend purchasing a juicer. I love mine. I also use the pulp for my salads. Also remember to combine the right foods. I wrote a post on Food Combining Here

When I tell people that you are not supposed to combine certain types of foods, they just look at me with a look of disbelief. So what exactly does food combining mean? Foods can be broken down into 4 types of foods. Proteins, carbohydrates, Fats and Oils, and fruits. 'Food combining' refers to the combination of foods which are compatible with each other in terms of digestive chemistry.

You can’t watch TV nowadays without viewing a commercial on indigestion. The industry spends over 2 billion dollars a year on antacid promotion. Not million, Billion, with a capital B. It used to be that you could take a pill and in a bit of time, your problems would be solved. Now, you take a pill before you know you are going to over indulge.

Have you ever wondered why you get indigestion? Are you just eating too much food? Are you eating the wrong foods? Well, not exactly. Somewhere down the line, food was transformed from nutritional based consumption to what it is now, a form of entertainment.  It has become the norm to gorge on all types of foods at one meal.

This is not good. It is time to get a bit scientific. Don’t worry, I won’t get too nerdy. Let’s take 2 types of foods, a protein and a carbohydrate. First, before I go on, you might thing that this is over the top and a pain in the rear to do, but let me assure you, this is worth picking up. The very core of good health starts right here. At least as far as nutrition goes. Just remember, change can be hard at first, but it takes no time at all to get used to it. So, back to the protein and carbohydrate conversation. Let’s take a good ole American meal. Steak and potatoes. Your steak is a protein and the potato is a carbohydrate. Different foods require different enzymes to aid the digestion process. Some are acidic and some are alkaline. Your steak is a protein that needs a highly acidic environment to be digested. The potatoes need a more alkaline environment. Let me take you back to science 101. If you mix alkaline with an acid, what happens? They neutralize one another. We won’t get into the 20 part acid to 1 part alkaline discussion here. Do you see the problem? Your stomach becomes a war zone. Your stomach keeps pumping in more acid to break down the proteins and it also is trying to do the same with alkaline to break down the carbohydrates. Nothing gets accomplished. Leave some food on the counter for a day or two and watch what happens. Turn up the heat in your house to 98 degrees and watch what happens. The same thing happens in your body. Undigested proteins putrefy (rot). Undigested fats go rancid and undigested carbohydrates ferment. Filling your body with toxins. This situation often leads to indigestion, bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort. The stomach finally gives up and pushes it to the intestines. This is where most of the nutrient absorption is accomplished. Since the food is not broken down the absorption of nutrients is minimal.

Here are some rules of thumb in food combining

• The most important rule is, do not mix starch and proteins at the same meal
• Eat proteins and sugars (fruits) at separate
  meals.
• Eat starchy foods and sugars (fruits) at
  separate meals. Fruits undergo no digestion in the
  stomach and are held up if eaten with foods which
  require digestion in the stomach.
• Drop the desserts. Eaten on top of meals they
  lie heavy on the stomach, requiring no digestion
  there, and ferment. Bacteria turn them into
  alcohols, acetic acids and vinegars.

Do you remember when your mother told you to slow down and chew your food? For the most, I am guessing she was not quite sure why, but there was a good reason. The more you chew your food, the less work your stomach has to do. This means that the stomach does not have the time to destroy the nutrients. I also want to add that it also works to your advantage to eat a meal that is void of any stress. Stress creates acid in your stomach. It does not go well with starches.

Here is a good chart of what food that you can and can not combine.