Warning: There is a reason why this post is labeled "TMI!"
So, I seem to have inherited a habit that my father has, which is to literally inhale my food. Let me clarify: My dad eats so quickly that I'm pretty sure that I've never actually seen him take a bite before. Everytime I sit down to eat with him at the table, I bow down to take my first bite, and by the time I look up, he's done. And that's after he served everyone else first and then sat down to eat himself!
I share this habit, though not quite to my dad's extent. I'm not sure if this was learned (his mother, my grandmother, eats pretty quickly), or if it was the result of the fact that my dad was child #5 of 6 (and getting food was a competition?), but, for whatever reason, he zooms through every meal.
Anyways, lately I've realized that the way that I am able to eat so quickly is that I don't really chew my food. Like, at all (no swallowing jokes, please!).
Also, lately, especially at work, I've been having a problem after I eat my breakfast. And that is that my abdomen feels like it's going to explode about 1/2 an hour after I'm done eating. Yup, gas (T! M! I!). And I started getting really worried thinking I was developing an intolerance to lactose or gluten or something, but, I've finally figured it out: It's because I don't chew.
Chris off-handedly mentioned the other day that people digest carbohydrates mostly with their spit while they chew. This got me thinking: I eat a breakfast chock-full of whole grains every weekday morning, and I most likely don't do that whole spit-digesting thing. So, for the past three days in a row, I have made a point to chew my food (it's weird because it's actually really hard for me to do! I'm not used to it at all!), and guess what? No badness anymore! Yay!
I've read some articles about "Mindful Eating" before (which is essentially when you take your time eating and enjoy every bite in order to be completely in the present), but now I'm totally sold. The problem is that I've been eating the way I do since I can remember. Old habits die hard, so "they" say. It's like I'm programmed to stuff as much food as fast as I can into my body (like Coltrane does when I feed him)... Perhaps this is a survival instinct-type thing? The other issue with this is the fact that the brain takes like 20-mintues to register the "full" feeling, so it's easy for me to overeat.
Anyways, I'm going to really try to chew from now on. Wish me luck.
Jillian also says that when you take your time and eat slowly, the process of masticating (<--!!) gets a certain hormone going (I could look it up, but I'm too lazy)--the hormone that sends the "I'm full" signals to your body. Fullness isn't just a lack of physical space, apparently--it's a chemical thing. So yet another reason to slow down! Good luck chewing...
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I lIke this!
ReplyDeleteI've also heard your stomach doesn't change size. You actually have pressure receptors in your stomach that signal when you are full. Overeating often desensitizes these receptors and it takes more food to make you feel full, hence the idea that your stomach is bigger.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! All good reasons to chew my food!
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