Holiday Health: Chew More

Here's a simple and natural way to maintain your health during the holiday season chow-down. And you can take this strategy anywhere, anyone can do it and it's absolutely FREE to use.

Whether you want to gain or lose weight, or radically reduce bloating and indigestion, chewing your food well can make a big difference. Here's how...

Chewing your food an extra 5, 10 or even 30 bites more will leave you fuller and more satisfied. Your body will have a much easier time absorbing and getting what it needs from the foods you eat. Think about it. If your body is better able to absorb the nutrients it needs, chances are, it simply will crave less food.

So no need to deprive and deny yourself of your favorite foods. Just chew more and let your body take care of the rest!

For those of you who try and try to gain weight (I know, this is shocking for some of you to realize) chewing well will create better assimilation of protein, fats and carbohydrates. Taking in extra calories doesn't work, if you aren't absorbing them as well as you could.

If you often find yourself craving sweets, the art of chewing your food more thoroughly brings out the natural sweet flavor in fruits, vegetables and other natural foods. It's also an easy way to STOP craving junk foods. Have you ever chewed a Big Mac or Oreo cookie really well? Not so tasty. You may have never realized this because junk food, let's face it, isn't usually consumed in a conscious manner.

The art of chewing your food is a simple one, yet few people care to do so. Why? It means we actually have to stop for a few minutes, and pay attention to what we're eating. Something inherently difficult for Americans to do. We live in an on-the-go, gotta do it all, 60+ hour work week culture. Understandably, this "busyness" is affecting our health in more ways than one. Chewing your food well is an easy tool you can apply anywhere.

A few client success stories with chewing:

• One client was shocked to find out that she no longer needed her prescription digestive pills after experimenting with chewing her food more thoroughly. What she thought was a "digestion problem" was really a "chewing problem."
• Another client lost weight just by only focusing on one thing: chewing her food better. She found she got fuller sooner and started to enjoy her meals much more since it forced her to slow down and pay attention to the people at her dinner table instead of just what was on her plate.

Here are some ideas on how to start chewing more and better, right away.

• Start small: chew your food an extra 5 - 10 bites. Work up to 20 -30 bites per mouthful.
• Take smaller bites... notice the flavors, textures, aromas.
• A few minutes is all you need to enjoy your food. Chewing more doesn't mean you have to sit at the table for an hour.
• Experiment with NOT multi-tasking while eating. I.E - reading or watching TV. Try this for one meal a day to start.
• Try focusing on your chewing for one meal a day.

But don't take my word for it. See for yourself and chew more.

Karin

Primary Food

All that we consider today as a source of nutrition is really just a secondary source of nourishment. Think back to a time when you were passionately in love. Everything was exciting. Colors were vivid. You were floating on air, gazing into each other's eyes. Your lover's touch and the feelings of exhilaration were enough to sustain you. You forgot about food and were high on life.

Or remember a time when you were deeply involved in an exciting project. You believed in what you were doing and felt confident and stimulated. Time seemed to stop. The outside world faded away. You didn't need to eat; someone had to come by and remind you.

Or remember when you were a child, playing outside with friends. Your mother would cry out, "It's dinner time! Come in and eat!" No, Mommy, I'm not hungry yet,"you'd respond. Once at the table your mother had to convince you to eat the requisite number of bites to ensure "good nutrition" (remember "Children are starving in Africa"?). You'd force down the minimum acceptable, and rush out again to play. At the end of the day, you'd come in exhausted and go to sleep with no thoughts of food at all.

Primary food feeds us, but doesn't come on a plate. Things like love, hugs, touch, kisses, warmth, massage, meditation, fun, freedom, self-expression, tears, hot baths, nature, downtime, close friends, and play all feed our souls and our hunger for living.

Now think of a time when you were depressed or your self-esteem was at a low. You were starving for primary food. No amount of secondary food would do. No matter how much you ate, you weren't satisfied. Even in good times we come home at night and look in the refrigerator for something to eat, when all we really want is a hug or a friend to talk to.

It is my opinion that the more primary food we receive, the less we'll depend on secondary food. The opposite is also true: the more we fill ourselves with secondary food, the less we are able to receive the primary foods of life. That is why every spiritual tradition encourages followers to fast, to have times during the year when secondary food intake is reduced, so that we are more able to be present to God's love and the primary foods in our lives.

Written by Joshua Rosenthal
Founder and Director of The Institute for Integrative Nutrition

Here's to holiday warmth and love... on and off the plate.

Karin

Eat Pray Love

If you're looking for a fun, inspiring and health oriented read that's guaranteed to upgrade your self-care, you've got to get your hands on "Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

After a soul stripping divorce, Gilbert takes off for a year of solo travel and introspection by studying the art of pleasure in Italy, meditation in India and balance in Indonesia. Composed of short essays in chronological order, this page turner feels like your cozying up with your closest and wisest girlfriend you wish you had.

I laughed out loud and desperately wanted to take off to Italy as she described each delicious dish (both on and off the plate).

I was floored with her candid experiences in India... and scurried to my humble meditation tapes, swearing total devotion to my spiritual growth.

And I'm thinking a second home in Bali sounds just about right (and affordable!).

It's a great gift for a girlfriend going through transition or young woman starting her life and mom's who want to inspire their daughters to really live the life they want.

No time to read? It's available in audio format too.

Get yours here.

Karin