Chew Your Way To Health

We all know it's a good idea to chew our food -- frankly, because we don't want to choke on it. However, most people put food in their mouths, chew a few times and swallow -- as if seeing how quickly we can get it into our tummies. We have either unconditioned ourselves or have never developed a healthy chewing habit to begin with. Let’s take a moment to find out why it’s a good idea to liquefy your food before you bring it down the hatch!

Chewing food thoroughly can give us

• Better Digestion by mechanically and chemically breaking food down, and stimulating the entire digestive process.
  
• More Energy by allowing the nutritional value of our food to be absorbed and converted into energy more easily. Sluggish digestion creates a sluggish body.
  
• Stronger Bones by converting acidic foods (like grains) to alkalizing foods with enzymes in our mouth (otherwise our body would have to buffer the acidic food we swallow by leeching minerals from our blood and bones).
  
• A Clearer Mind by bathing the brain with the right nutrients and creating a higher oxygen supply in the blood (slightly alkaline blood absorbs oxygen better).
  
• A Stronger Immune System by bringing the right size and pH of particles into our digestive tract to receive the right nutrients for health and to keep a balance of healthy bacteria in our gut (especially since 70-80% of our immune cells are found in our digestive tract).
  
• Stronger Bones by maintaining an alkaline pH so our body doesn’t have to leech alkalizing minerals from our blood and bones to buffer the acidic foods.
  
• A Healthier Body and Happier and More Productive Life by utilizing the power and energy from our foods, having healthy body systems, and allowing us to slow down and enjoy not only our food but life around us too.

So how many times should you chew? First remember that carbohydrates that are higher in fiber we automatically have to chew more, as they don't just dissolve in our mouths. This is good. Experts say we should chomp and chew between 30 and 100 times. (Wow, there goes dinner conversation!) But if you don’t want to count, aim to liquefy your food before you swallow. As Ghandi put it:

"Chew your drink, and drink your food".