Food Hygiene? It Is Not What You Think.

Food Hygiene is not the cleanliness or safety of what we eat. But more about How we eat.

Take a moment and recall how you ate your last meal?

Were you sitting down? Were you in a distraction-free environment? (No television or mobile device) Were you shoveling food in your mouth with no awareness? The difference here matters more than you think. Do you eat on the go and shovel food in your mouth? Do you eat dinner super fast and forget to breathe between bites?

A healthy body is not only the food you eat.

Eating hygiene involves the behaviors surrounding and the environment in which you eat. Optimal health requires the ability to absorb the nutrients from food and eliminate what the body sees as a foreign invader.

Digestion starts in the brain.

The brain wants to know the body is in a rest and digest state to begin the process of digestion. In the mouth, enzymes start the breakdown process in the saliva. Believe it or not, you need to chew your food 20 - 30 times before swallowing for your body to digest the food you eat properly. Count how many times you usually chew before swallowing; I have yet to know someone who chews more than ten times. Skipping this first step will cause large, undigested food to enter the lower GI tract leading to bloating, gassiness, and distention.

Here is an article of research that shows how eating more slowly leads to weight loss and other positive health outcomes.

What about drinking while eating?

Contrary to what you may think when you sip on a drink between bites, the digestive enzymes in your mouth and stomach are suppressed, making digesting and absorbing food difficult.

For fat loss or maintaining a healthy weight, it is essential to slow down, chew your food well, and feel relaxed when eating. You may be familiar with the theory that it takes 20 minutes for the gut to send the hormone signals to your brain that you are full and no longer hungry. Taking the time to enjoy your meal, you are far less likely to overeat due to the communication between the gut and the brain.

Symptoms that may occur with poorly digested food

• Acid Reflux

• Heartburn

• Blood Sugar Imbalance

• Food in Stool

• Severe Food Allergies or Sensitivities

• Blood in Stool

• Gallstones

• Gastritis

• Diverticulitis

• Autoimmunity

Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system sees something as non-self and will do whatever it can to destroy it or remove it before it does harm. When food is not entirely digested, the large molecules of the food are too large as they enter the small intestine, damaging the cell wall and allowing the undigested food to enter the bloodstream. Your immune sees this undigested food as a foreign invader and will mount an immune response to rid of the invaders. Over time autoimmune diseases can develop.

The Solution

Digestion begins in the brain, and eating in a relaxed state is step one to ensure your food is adequately broken down and absorbed before entering the small intestine.

Prioritize whole, high-quality foods. Avoid Canola, Soybean, other inflammatory seed oils, processed junk food, and refined sugars.

As you can see, optimal high-quality nutrition is not only what you eat; it is also HOW you eat. Slow down next time you sit down for a meal. Enjoy your food, chew thoroughly, put distractions away, and see how you feel. My guess is It will make a huge difference.