Savor your food for health
The way we eat affects how we digest and assimulate the food we eat. Our eating habits affect our physiology. Even before we put food into our mouths, the smell of it starts to stimulate our salivary glands to produce saliva. Saliva contains digestive enzymes as our body starts to break down the food into its basic components to be eventually absorbed into our blood stream to feed our cells. Digestion, absorption and assimilation of nutrients from our food is controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system. This system orchestrates the entire process. During stress the sympathetic nervous system (flight and fight) is in overdrive and our system does not digest, absorb and assimilate the nutrients well from our food. Specific steps need to occur to maximize the process. For example, chewing food slowly helps the body to secrete enough digestive enzymes to optimize the process. Taking 3 deep breaths before…