The missing digestive enzymes

Today at Natural Weight Loss I would like to talk about the "fast food" syndrome of rushing our food and missing out on some important digestive enzymes.

We have all been told to chew our food properly at sometime in our lives. But, were you ever told the benefits of following such advice?

Chewing is probably one of the lesser known weapons in our fight to stay trim and healthy! The modern day trend to gobble and gulp has a tendency to make us overeat. When we chew our food sufficiently, we dramatically slow down the eating process allowing the body time to signal the brain when it is full. Eating for longer puts the emphasis on enjoyment rather than trying to satisfy an immediate craving. We eat less as a result.

The process of chewing is relaxing. This aids the digestive process. This is contrary to the effects of stress where the digestive system tends to shut down. When we don't bother to chew our food we leave out important elements of our digestive system. Saliva contains digestive enzymes that contribute to the chemical process of breaking our food down. Undigested food becomes fodder for bacteria in the colon. We can only guess at the long term impact this has on our health?

There is no hard and fast rule for how many times we should chew our food but here is a guideline. If you are still able to detect the type of food you are chewing by its texture in your mouth then you probably haven't chewed enough.

Next time you are eating in a hurry, think of all those valuable digestive enzymes you are missing out on and what you might be doing to your long term health.