“Chew your vegetables and food!” I think most of us heard this when we were kids and we also hear it now. When you slow down to think about it, you might ponder why? Here are 5 tips why it is cool to slow down to chew your food and lose weight:

Harmony Method  Tip #1: Enzymes.

Saliva, raw vegetables and fruit contain enzymes, so the longer you chew, the more time these enzymes are being secreted to start breaking down your food, making digestion process easier and more efficient in your stomach and small intestine. When you chew vegetables and fruit thoroughly, enzymes are released to aid in digestion. I recommend to not only chew your food, but have the goal of polarizing (liquidizing) it.

Harmony Method  Tip #2: Absorption and Assimilation.

When you polarize your food you are able to absorb and assimilate it. The villi’s in your small intestine (in jejunum and ileum) are responsible for taking the digested food particle and bringing it into the blood stream to be taken to the cells. The tip of the villi is the size of tip of a human hair- you have millions of them. If you are not polarizing your food, you are not absorbing and assimilating food completely.

Harmony Method  Tip #3: Eating Less.

When you slow down and fully chew your food, your body has time to process the food and give your brain a signal that it is starting to get full. Your brain and stomach register feelings of fullness after about 15- 20 minutes. During this time, receptors inform the brain that your body is receiving nutrients by sending hormone signals. If you don’t chew properly and you eat super quick you may be overeating.

Harmony Method Tip #4: Saves Energy.

Energy is the name of the game. Digestion is actually a very demanding task for your body, requiring a lot of energy, especially if forced to digest improperly chewed food. When you have huge particles of food that you do not chew well, then your body can’t easily break the food down to digest, absorb and assimilate. It makes the body react and increases stress levels. When your body is in reaction and stress mode, this takes a lot of energy to deal with, energy that could be going to something more productive.

Harmony Method Tip #5: Prevent bloating.

When most people have a stomach ache, they point to their belly button. The first thing I ask is if they are chewing their food because the area around their belly button is the small intestine, which is about 20 feet long. Every 2 inches the small intestine curves and big particles of food can end up as a bigger irritation to the body as a whole causing gas, bloating, constipation, cramping and other digestive problems.

Chewing is built-in to our unconscious. My recommendation is to bring awareness to chewing when you are eating. Also, my personal opinion is when you are eating a meal with friends or family chewing properly might also make you a better listener. J Chewing your food fully will support and nourish your body to achieve its ideal weight.

Here are some basic suggestions to increase chewing:

• If you are cooking, chop your food into smaller pieces to make it easier to chew.
• Take smaller bites
• Chew slowly and steadily
• Chew until your mouthful of food is polarized (liquefied)
• Put your utensil down in between bites