Improve Digestion By Adjusting Eating Habits

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This article is to highlight the importance of slow, relaxed, aware eating for better digestion, and better nutrient assimilation.

There are many stages to digestion. The first stage starts in the mouth. The chewing and mixing of food with saliva in the mouth starts the break-down process so that once the food gets to the stomach it is in a state that is easy for the stomach to break down further. If it is not broken down well and thoroughly mixed with the enzymes in the saliva (which assist the break-down of food particles), it gives the stomach a harder task to break it down, potentially causing digestive discomfort and poorer digestion of food further down the digestive tract.

So when food is put in to the mouth it should be well chewed before swallowing, and it is important to be feeling calm and relaxed when eating because digestion works better when the body is in parasympathetic nervous system mode (i.e relaxed).

So relax, take time time to chew your food well, get it amongst your taste buds, and really enjoy it, slowly savouring it's taste and texture for longer before you swallow it. This will help support better digestive function, and better nutrient absorption and assimilation, and therefore better health in general. You can have plenty of nutrient-rich food but if you're not digesting it properly, and your digestive system is not functioning well, the rest of your body may be missing out on a lot of those nutrients.

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