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Relax When You Eat!

By September 28, 2016 February 18th, 2020 No Comments

We all lead busy, task-oriented lives, and move quickly in the process. We need mindful-eating-istock-01-31-13to remember to chill out for a second, breathe, and relax, ESPECIALLY when it is time to eat. If you eat while you’re under physiological stress, your body cannot fully digest, assimilate, and burn calories.

Stress can be defined as any real or imagined stress and your body’s response to it. The stress response causes the following: decreased nutrient absorption, decreased oxygenation to your gut, and as much as 4x less blood flow to the digestive system, when means less metabolism! It also decreases enzymatic output in your gut – as much as 20,000 fold! Furthermore, It can increase food sensitivities and likeliness of GERD, also know as heartburn or indigestion.

When you are stressed, excess cortisol is produced which creates an inability to lose weight. It puts the body in the opposite condition you want it to be in to metabolize, assimilate, and digest. So the point here is to take a moment when you’re about to chow down. Take a few deep breaths. Make sure you actually chew your food. There is a reason why chewing is a part of eating,
so count your chews. Try to make it to 30 before swallowing. Be mindful and conscious of the process. Breathe, chew, be grateful and be in the moment. Do these things, and you will better digest your food and absorb nutrients. Your body will love you for it.

For more information from the source of this article, check out this YouTube video from Mercola.com:

(The YouTube video will not play directly from the email, so go ahead and watch it on YouTube, or tune in from the blog post on our website.)

Written by Laura Bautista, Holistic Health Coach & Patient Advocate