Rule 49 - Eat slowly.

I'm guilty of this and I know most of you are too: inhaling our food.

Digestion starts in the mouth. Mastication (chewing) helps to increase the surface area, so that enzymes in saliva (alpha-amylase and lingual lipase) can start to break down starch (carbohydrate) and fat. The more you chew, the easier it is for your digestive system:

• less stress is placed on the esophagus with smaller portions vs big chunks
• stimulates hydrochloric acid production in the stomach
  
• allows food to move more easily from the stomach to the small intestine
• stimulates secretion of digestive enzymes & bicarbonate from the pancreas into the small intestine -- all needed for healthy digestion and eventually absorption
• maintains a healthy probiotic population in your colon

I'll explain. There are 3 phases to digestion: the cephalic, gastric, and intestinal phases. The cephalic phase is initiated by sight, smell, taste, and chewing. This phase starts the secretion of hydrochloric acid, enzymes, and contractile activity. The more time you spend chewing, the longer the cephalic phase is, thus giving your digestive system more time to gear up, get ready, and go. You can think of it as a warm-up before a long workout. Chewing also relaxes a muscle at the lower end of the stomach called the pylorus - this is the "gate" between the stomach and the small intestine. The opening of this gate (relaxing of the pylorus) allows the movement of food, so it doesn't just "sit there" in your stomach. With the proper juices flowing and motility, your digestive system breaks down food more efficiently and completely, allowing for proper absorption of nutrients into your body. By the time your food has traveled to your large intestine (or colon), intestinal bacteria will break down remaining food fragments, which causes gas. Excess food fragments from poorly digested foods causes excess activity here, resulting in more gas and overgrowth of certain bacteria.

Do you get heartburn? Feeling that food is stuck in your stomach? Pain after eating? Feel bloated? Lots of gas? Undigested food in your stool? Low energy?

This could all be because you're not chewing enough. By not chewing, your digestive system works harder, eventually exhausting itself. In Chinese medicine, we call this damaging your Spleen Qi - and that affects entire Qi of the body.

It's so simple -- toddlers can do it. Chew your food! It's better for your health, and you'll probably eat less and enjoy the quality of your food more. Some say to chew 25 times before swallowing, I've also seen 100 times. Just chew till it's not recognizable anymore, and as Michael Pollan reminds us:

Put down your fork between bites.