Gratitude At Mealtime Make the Food Go Down

Everyone talks about how important it is to eat the right foods and to prepare healthy meals. But something most people overlook is actually "how" you eat those meals.

If you grab a meal and gobble it down without even breathing or eat right after you had an argument with a friend or co-worker... chances are the food won't be digested very well.

Food that is not broken down (basically into a nice mushy liquid) can cause problems in the gut... it can tear holes, prevent absorption of important vitamins and minerals, disrupt the internal terrain/flora, and "clog up" the drain pipe.

So here's a great exercise that gets your body in the right mood for mealtime...

This can be done simply by pausing for 1 minute before you dive into your meal. Try this exercise… with your plate of food in front of you, your going to take 5 deep breathes. Breathing brings us into our parasympathetic nervous response… that is meant for rest and restore of the body (and digestion!).

• Breath 1: close your eyes and relax
• Breath 2: open your eyes and take in all the wonderful food on your plate
• Breath 3: appreciate the colors, shapes, textures and varieties of food
• Breath 4: take in all the smells, that fill you with appreciation for the food
• Breath 5: close your eyes and say “thank you”.

That's it! Simple and it only takes a few minutes.

After the exercise, dig in! But remember these final tips...

... Chew, chew, chew (about 50 chews per mouthful)
... Take your time
... Finish your meal full... but not stuffed
... Be grateful for the food and nutrition you are given.

If you want to find out more about gut health and bio-individual nutrition, go to my functional nutrition practice at www.aine-marie.com or join my on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eastsidefunctionalnutrition/