If you are one of many people who have the perception that digestion starts in the stomach, it turns out you are mistaken. In fact, it begins in the mouth—chewing, actually is the first step of the digestive process.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioners, this very first step is exceptionally crucial to our health in three ways. They are nutrition, hygiene, and weight.
Nutrition
First thing first. The whole objective of digestion is to get valuable substances from the food we eat by breaking it down into absorbable nutrients and banish the rest (such as insoluble fiber will continue on through the intestines and help expelling other waste products and cleaning the surfaces of the intestines).
Starting in the mouth with chewing, food is physically broken down into smaller and smaller pieces until they are tiny enough being absorbed into the bloodstream. Which means if we don’t chew properly and swallow the food anyway, our digestive system won’t be able to obtain as much of the available nutrients as possible.
Hygiene
When food is chewed thoroughly—into smaller pieces, they provide more surface area for contact with the digestive enzymes and acids in the stomach making more easily digested. Whilst if food is not chewed well and the large pieces of food can’t be broken down, incomplete digestion takes place. Not only is our body unable to get the nutrients extracted from the food, the undigested food instead becomes “food” for germs in the colon causing bacterial overgrowth, not to mention symptoms of indigestion such as flatulence.
Weight
Once we start eating (chewing), a hormones called Choleocystokinin (CCK) will be released in the gut. These appetite hormones actually can let our brain know when we have had enough food—and of course, stop eating. Unfortunately, so often that many of us eat too fast and don’t give the hormones a chance to function. And by the time the hormones arrives its destination, the brain, we already have been way too full. The bottom line is, the longer we chew, the less likely we are to overeat—the culprit of obesity.
So, reminded by TCM Practitioners, “Chew your food and eat slowly. It’s all for the sake of your good health!”
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Indicating breakfast, no matter in which culture, is the most important meal in a day. “Unfortunately, the importance of eating breakfast has been overlooked for some reason or another by different people,” said Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners.
Many people do have a perception that it’s better to exercise after having food than before. It is because, first, the exercise will help the digestion a lot more, and second, if they work out and then go to eat, it makes them eat more. Thus, to take a walk after having a meal sort of has become a common practice in many cultures. However, in Traditional Chinese Medicine viewpoint, we are better off to go for a walk before eating.
Yes! According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioners, the ethanol contained in alcoholic beverage, whether it is wine, beer, or distilled spirits acts as a stimulant to blood vessels in the heart (reduce blood vessel constriction and platelet aggregation). Strong tea, in the same way, makes the human body exceptionally excitable and can affect the cardiovascular as well as the nervous system. Therefore, for a person (especially someone with cardiovascular disease) who has tea after downing alcohol, his/her heart will have too much pressures to handle due to the increase in heart rate.
In general, there are two components in food variety. One is “Category” like grain, meat, bean, milk, egg, vegetable, fruit, oil & fat, etc. The other is “Item,” which refers to different foods in each category such as rice, noodle, millet, corn, buckwheat, sorghum, and oat in grain group; and pork, beef, lamb, chicken, fish, and duck in meat category.
The pH levels indeed are directly reflected by what we put into our mouth. Unfortunately, in today’s modern world, our typical diet tends to be too high in acid producing animal foods such as meat, egg, and dairy products, but too low in alkaline producing foods like fresh vegetables and fruits.
In fact, in combination with proper diet, not only the side effects of medicine can be reduced, but the efficacy of medicine will also increase. In some cases, even the need for doses of medicine lessens with an appropriate diet.
flavors (pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty). The principle of a healthy diet is to select the right combination of foods by following their properties and reach a balance.
Presently, there are over 300 chemical substances reportedly have been found in tea. While some of them are microelements that can provide additional nutrient substances to the body, others are even capable of preventing or healing diseases.
Since tea contains caffeine, some may concern drinking it will produce negative side effect, such as insomnia, to the body. However, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners, with moderate consumption, caffeine also brings in benefits to health. They include strengthen brain power, enhance concentration, and boost alertness by stimulating the central nervous system.
