Savor Every Bite: The Power of Mindful Eating
Imagine the comforting scent from your oven of baking bread, its earthy, nutty aroma filling the air, bringing you a sense of warmth. Or a burger on your grill, its savory char and smoke invoking a desire to sit by a fire on a summer night surrounded by your loved ones. Close your eyes and dream of the sweetness of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, their toasty, nostalgic smell making your mouth water. Breathing in these aromas prepares your body to eat. When it comes to nutrition, what we put into our body is important, but the sights and smells, and how you eat food is also important.
Proper digestion starts in your head. When you smell bread baking or see a lemon and your mouth waters, or you think about your favorite food and suddenly you’re feeling starved, that’s your body preparing for digestion. Your brain tells your body to release enzymes from your pancreas and acid into your stomach before you even take a bite of food.
Let rest and digest beat stress. What happens when you’re not paying attention to the sights, smells and colors of your food? If you are just trying to get something down before your next meeting or before the kids’ game, your body can become stuck in the fight or flight mode triggered by your sympathetic nervous system. It tells you to focus on fighting the stressor and not to digest. Instead, you want to be in the parasympathetic mode of rest and digest. Your body can then properly digest and absorb the food you’re eating.
Take deep breaths. It’s hard to get yourself out of sympathetic mode when you have a busy schedule and lots on your plate. One simple thing you can do is take three to five deep breaths before you eat. Inhale deeply through your nose for four counts, then slowly exhale through your mouth for six counts. Repeat this until you feel calm.
Put away the distractions. When you eat, focus on your meal. Put away the phone, take your eyes off of your computer, and don’t turn on the TV. If you find yourself struggling to focus on your meal and needing a distraction, keep practicing. You deserve to slow down.
Chew your food thoroughly. Do you ever finish your meal and realize it took you all of four minutes? You may not be chewing your food thoroughly. Experts recommend chewing your food 30 times before you swallow. Try it. It might feel like forever, but maybe that’s a sign you’re eating too quickly,
Eat with loved ones. Make it a priority to eat at least one meal a day with others. Eating is a social experience and connecting with loved ones can calm the nervous system and help you slow down as you engage in conversation. Prioritize breakfast with your partner before the hustle and bustle of the day, make family dinners a priority, or enjoy your lunch with your co-workers.
Filling your body with vitamins and minerals, fiber and protein, antioxidants and probiotics are all important. But, if your body isn’t able to digest these nutrients or absorb them, it will leave you feeling uncomfortable and you won’t get the most bang for your buck. What you eat matters but so does how you eat.
Lila Tully, CHES
Health Education Specialist, ViaroThrive
For questions or comments, contact wellness@viarohealth.com
