Emotional and Stress-Eating

I’ve said before that I wasn’t here to steal your Christmas cake or consign you to a lettuce leaf lunch on 25 December, but here’s a quick tip to make whatever you eat a little easier on your digestive system.

Chew your food well.

Some of us eat like we have seven older siblings and food is scarce: one arm around the plate as a defence and the other with a fork shovelling in whatever we can inhale. Try really hard not to eat like that.

Chewing well takes time. Your empty stomach is only the size of your fist. If you fill it gradually, your body has plenty of time to tell your brain it’s full. If you inhale your food and overfill your stomach, things can get very uncomfortable, very quickly.

There are no teeth beyond your mouth so that’s the best place for you to get your food in a state that is kindest to the rest of your digestive system. Chewing gives the digestive enzymes in your saliva time to do their job. That, in turn, makes it easier for the stomach to do its job.

So, grab your slice of cake, ham sandwich or roast potato, sit back and leisurely enjoy it – for your gut’s sake.

Photo by Gardie Design & Social Media Marketing on Unsplash