You Are NOT What You Eat
That old saying of “you are what you eat”, is really actually short sighted. Yes, the food we eat matters, A LOT, as we discussed previously.
However, we also have to digest,break down, absorb, and get into thecell membranesthe nutrients in the food we eat. There is a lot more steps and work that is involved than people consider. What is really important is that there is only one part of digestion that we can actually CONTROL. That is HOW we eat.
How we eat can really impact how well we digest the food we eat. Often, we just do silly things during a meal that really can mess up the rest of digestion for us. Gas, bloating, distention, being overly full after a meal, belching, and mild reflux can all take place if we have poor EATING HYGEINE during the meal. No this does not depend on how clean your body is during your meal. Hygiene refers to the practices you conduct to maintain health. In this case, it refers to HOW you ate your meal in a healthy way. At Rapha Functional Wellness, we get a lot of gastrointestinal complaints from our clients, and we do not always have to get super in-depth in our interventions. At times, the fix is quite simple, like chewing your food well. We can find MAJOR relief often just by practicing some basic principles while eating our meals. Things that we all probably know, but just don’t think about. These principles are also FOUNDATIONAL when we are working with clients that may have significant GI imbalances. We must start with these practices, and then we can get more esoteric and dig down to what is causing the individual’s distress in the GI tract or elsewhere. Because as we have mentioned, dis-ease very often begins in the GUT.
Here are some steps to improve your gut health.What daily choices might be causing you to be in sympathetic nervous system mode?
1. Slow Down.
Yes, we know: it’s easier said than done at times. Especially if you were raised in a big family and couldn’t have seconds (or dessert) until you practically inhaled what was on your plate. But digestion takes time. And digestive secretions such as stomach acid, bile, and pancreatic enzymes need time to be fully secreted. If we are stressed, it takes even longer! If you wolf down your meal in a hurry, a very full stomach has trouble mixing acid and enzymes well with your food. All on its own, this dynamic creates indigestion. Think of trying to blend a batch of stir-fry in a coffee cup. There’s simply not enough room. When it “spills over”, you belch and burp and may have reflux.
It also takes about20 minutesfor your gut to signal to your brain that you’re full and reduce your sense of hunger (courtesy of a hormone called CCK or cholecystokinin). Gulp down your food in 10 minutes? You’re much more likely to overeat and end up feeling bloating 20 minutes later.
Get in the habit of putting down your knife and fork and sitting back in your chair in between each bite of food. Heck, spice it up and have a little conversation without food in your mouth.
After you swallow, take at least one full, cleansing breath before you pick up your utensils and enjoy another bite.
2. Chew
Believe it or not, on average we chew a bite of food only about 6 times before we swallow (gulp!). Chewing is the only part of the digestive process that is voluntary – that we control. The less we chew our food, the harder our GI tract has to work. This creates post-meal fatigue. Ideally, we chew our food until it’s almost liquid before swallowing. This can reduce gas and increase post-meal energy. When we swallow chunks of food (vs. tiny, mostly liquefied bits), it’s harder for digestive enzymes in the intestines to do their job. When carbohydrate foods hang around too long, the bacteria in our guts feast too heartily and create gas build-up as a metabolic byproduct. The result? Distention, bloating, flatulence. (Hint: if you Chew thoroughly, it’s also much easier to Slow Down.)
Count your chews. Literally. Chew every bite #30 times. Again, we ideally chew food until its liquid. If you feel a strong impetus to swallow beforehand, just move the food to the side of your mouth, swallow saliva, and keep chewing (think of what you automatically do with gum).
3. Prioritize Eating
Many people feel that eating is somehow a waste of time unless it’s done while multi-tasking. A fascinating choice when you consider that eating is the one thing we do which literally creates our future body! We get in the habit of eating “on the go” e.g. in the car rushing to a meeting, while walking to another building, or standing up at the counter while preparing our kids’ food. All of these are a recipe for Indigestion. A high-impact way to live on purpose is to treat a meal as a special, singular event.
4. Sit down
When we eat in a way that doesn’t allow our nervous system to fully relax and move into parasympathetic mode, we literally put out less digestive fluids. It’s part of the body’s survival mechanism. We either ask the body to focus and rush and perform (e.g. “fight or flight”). Or we ask it to take a break and build strength and energy for the future via eating (“rest and digest”). The body cannot do both at once. Witness the diarrhea or nausea many people feel in a stressful situation. Communicate to your body with your actions that it’s safe to relax and let down our guard and focus on digestion and restoring our reserves.
5. Breathe
The body needs oxygen to properly digest. Help calm your body and support digestion by taking a few, slow, calming breaths when you sit down to a meal – before you start eating. Relax and Savor. Try to learn to just be in the moment with your food. Colors, textures, aromas, flavors… Most of us are mentally “elsewhere” while we eat. The result? The brain tends to miss out on the entertainment, and we are much more likely to overeat. Distraction increases food intake. Postpone stressful discussions, replying to tense emails, or paying bills until later.
6. Plan your meals
For many people, it helps to put them literally in your daily appointment/commitment calendar. This ensures the time is truly “set aside” to care for yourself via mindful eating.
7. Don’t Drink too much during meals
Yes, we need to be hydrated and focus on plain, clean water intake for overall wellness. However, the best time to hydrate is in between meals. When you consume large amounts of water during a meal, you dilute the acidity of your stomach acid and slow digestion. Depending on your sensitivity, this can cause an early sense of fullness and belching and long-term can cause malnutrition (especially low Vitamin B12, magnesium or iron). If it’s near meal-time and you feel thirsty, make a point of drinking a large glass of water right away. Then allow your body to absorb it while you are in transit to your meal or while you prepare it (ideally 20+ minutes before eating). This allows the water to clear your stomach before its digestive duty begins. Get in the habit of carrying a water glass or bottle around with you throughout the day and sip on it regularly.
These are indeed simple solutions! But don’t underestimate how powerful they can be. We have seen many clients dramatically improve their digestion, energy, and nutrition with these steps.
Given our stress-crazed, achievement-obsessed, go-go-go society, however, it can be hard to implement these principles consistently. But you can do it! Like anything else, it just has to be a priority. We recommend printing out a copy of this article and keeping it on your dining table. Repetition and persistence can create Big Change and long-term relief.
Need More Help?
If you have digestion complaints and would like more help in finding the root cause then make a free 15-minute consults with us @ Rapha Functional Wellness.We offer in-depth functional medicine GI testing. This shows us how you are digesting, what your microbiome looks like, and if any infections on present.
If you would like to learn more about how to heal your gut then join Amy Altamash at Mindful Movement Yoga Studio on Novemeber 17th @ 6:00pm for an in-depth talk on the secrets tip from a Functional Medicine Practitioner, on how to heal your gut, and the connection between the Gut-Brain Connection
