Chew your food well

Chew the food well

Chew until you can 'drink' each bite: 20 to 100 times!

Good digestion begins in the mouth. Especially for complex carbohydrates, which digest only in the mouth and the small intestine.The stomach acids DO NOT break down carbohydrates! 

The saliva that coats your food as you chew actually contains digestive enzymes that begin to digest your food before you even swallow it. The enzymes alpha-amylase and lingual lipase begin digesting carbohydrates and fats, reducing the amount of work for which the stomach will be responsible


If you don't chew the carbs (greens, salads, grains, and beans) not only do nutrients remain locked in the fragments, but these fragments create an environment in the colon that is conducive to digestive distress—bacterial overgrowth, gas, bloating, and slight pain in the belly. 

In fact, those symptoms are very common due to the way we eat: little chewing, on the go, multi-tasking.

Chewing also gives notice to the body that food is coming down, so the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, etc., all get ready, and bloating is avoided. The enzyme Amylase in the salivary glands is responsible for digestion of carbohydrates in the mouth. Without chewing, Amylase secretion is poor, and healthy digestion is compromised. 

Carnivorous animals don't have to chew. In fact, they can't, as their jaws don't move side to side. They rip the food instead. They eat mostly fats and protein, which get digested in the stomach just fine.

Herbivores (like chimps, gorillas, horses, cows, giraffes, elephants, AND humans) have to chew. 

All herbivorous animals chew. Sometimes for hours. Have you noticed that? 

Except for us, humans. Somehow, we have ignored to observe nature and our obvious biology.