When we eat too fast, our brain continues to seek the pleasure we receive from eating, preventing us from feeling our fullness and causing us to overeat. On the other hand when we slow down and really chew our food, we experience this pleasure, making us feel satiated, regulating our metabolism, promoting healing and circulation, enhancing immunity, increasing energy and endurance, improving skin health and stabilizing our weight.
I challenge you to CHEW!
You can experience the benefits of chewing by increasing to thirty chews per bite. Try it and see how you feel.
Taking time with our meal, beginning with chewing, allows us to enjoy the whole experience of eating: the smells, flavors and textures. It helps us to give thanks, to show appreciation for the abundance in our lives and to develop patience and self-control. Try eating without the TV, computer, newspaper, or noisy company. Instead just pay attention to the food and to how you are breathing and chewing.
This kind of quiet can be confronting at first, since we are used to a steady stream of advertising, news, media, email, and demands from others. But as you create a new habit, you will begin to appreciate eating without rushing. You have to eat every day—why not learn to savor and enjoy it?
