Unfortunately, since we’re a too-busy, distracted society, we often forget what matters the most in or life. While watching days passing by so quickly, we often find ourselves struggling to find the time to prepare our own meals. Also, we barely organize ourselves to sit and enjoy them. You may often hear people say how lucky someone is since he or she finds the time to cook every day at home…
The truth is, there are some things we cannot control in our life. We just have to accept them and deal with the fact they cannot be changed. But, fortunately, there are many things we can change by making the unchangeable things not to matter that much after all. The real trick here, lays on the fact we don’t force ourselves enough to make those changes and start leaving a healthier, happier life.
One of these adjustable and editable things we all have the power to work on is our eating speed. It might have never crossed your mind until today, but now it’s time to think about it. You need to understand how important adjusting your eating speed can be in many aspects of your health.
We should all respect the food we eat, in order for it to respect our health. When siting on the dining table, or when in the office, your mind should only be focused on the food you’re just about to eat. Stop checking your Instagram and chatting with other people. You need to dedicate all the right amount of time into that meal. It’s time to once and for all, understand that eating on your feet or while running back to work, it’s an extremely unhealthy thing to do that needs to be stopped as soon as possible.
Check out how this simple, yet powerful eating habit can improve your overall health:
A better digestion, a better life
Food chewing is the first step of the digestion process. Just like our stomach has its own enzymes which brake down the food we eat, our mouth does too. One of the main, most important reasons everyone needs to fully chew the food, is because most of the vitamins and minerals can be absorbed more easily if we send the food in our stomach fully chewed. So, giving our stomach a helping hand is really something we should do. Especially if we want to help it better and faster process the foods and allowing all healthy elements to be fully absorbed by the blood stream. Also, you won’t fill that much fuller because your stomach will finish its work in a shorter time. You see, it’s a win-win situation; while you help your stomach better process the foods, you get to benefit more from all the vitamins and minerals that they contain.
You keep the extra weight away
This is now a well-known, science-proved fact! If you eat slowly, you will quickly lose weight! When analyzing how our eating speed affects our weight, we should see it in two main aspects. First, is the physical part. If you’re used to eat large meals, then, your stomach is probably stretched to its limits. This means, you need more and more food to feel full enough and stop eating. But, if you start eating slowly, with smaller bites and often, then, your stomach’s size will drop. This will make you feel full more quickly. If you stick to a healthy meal, eating 5-6 times a day, and most importantly, chewing slowly while fully enjoying your food, your stomach will be the one to give you the “enough” signals.
The second aspect we should all see the eating speed from is the physiological part. When we eat slowly, it means we will chew more and for a longer time. It’s scientifically proved that, in this case, our brain gets tricked into thinking we are full. And, it can actually start making us feel that way. Letting hormones enough time to signalize the brain that we don’t need to eat more, means we’re preventing ourselves to feel bloated and over-full when finishing the whole meal. Keep in mind that it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to fully send out the signals to your body when it doesn’t actually need more food. Imagine all the extra calories you eat in every single meal simply because you do not allow the body to register that it no longer needs food.
Remember, that doesn’t mean you will start eating less than your body actually needs. It means you won’t feel full and eat the amount you need to get all the necessary nutrients.