Getting to Know Your Gut Part II

There is a clear and strong connection between the foods we eat and how we feel, both physically and emotionally. A day of eating garbage will typically leave you feeling like garbage. Yet when we eat well, we feel pretty darn good. Thus, nourishing our bodies with REAL food is undeniably the key to improving overall health. Unfortunately there are times when eating the right kinds of foods just simply is not enough.

While you may think you are doing your body good, what happens after you've taken that last bite is just as important, if not more important than what you put in your mouth. The following tips will help you get the most out of your food through proper digestion:

1. Chill out! Most people have extremely busy lives that are jam-packed with activities, leaving very little time to prepare and enjoy meals. Instead, people are devouring breakfast while they are weaving in and out of traffic, inhaling lunch in between emails, and then grabbing dinner from a drive-thru window at the end of the day. Eating like this can have some seriously damaging effects on your body on many levels. Moreover, stressful eating habits inhibit the digestion process by blocking the production of hydrochloric acid and the enzymes necessary to break down your food. How can your digestive system do its job when you are putting additional constraints on your body? Eating should be a pleasurable experience from which you find comfort and ease. So make an effort to find the time to relax and enjoy your meals.

2. Chew, chew, chew! Ever wonder why your mouth begins to water when you get a whiff of yummy food? Your brain is signaling your mouth to release salivary enzymes to prep it for digestion. As you chew food you are breaking it down into smaller particles and mixing it with salivary enzymes that will jump start the digestive process. Thoroughly chewing your food facilitates digestion in the stomach; the more broken down your food is, the less work the stomach has to do. Once it leaves the stomach, it enters the small intestine where your body absorbs the nutrients from the food. In order to fully absorb these nutrients it is absolutely imperative that you not only eat the right foods but that you slow down to chew, chew, chew! Also, don't wash your food down with tons of water. Too much liquid during a meal dilutes hydrochloric acid and inhibits digestion. So, relish the taste of each bite and thoroughly chew it before you swallow. What's the use of investing the time and money on good food if you aren't going to benefit from the nutrients in the foods?

3. Eat foods that support digestion. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals and are an excellent source of fiber, which aids digestion. The natural fermentation of insoluble fibers in the large intestine helps maintain a healthy ph balance in the body and produces the short-chain fatty acids needed for a healthy colon. Your "transit time," or the time it takes for your body to digest, absorb and eliminate food, depends heavily on the amount of fiber in your diet. A healthy transit time is between 18-24 hours. A slow transit time is anything beyond 30 hours and is a sign of insufficient fiber and/or water. Foods such as kale, spinach and flax provide plenty of fiber and should be eaten regularly along with lots of water, for optimal gut health.

***Reminder: Today is the first day of the Double Under Challenge! Do 1 double under today!