Slow Food Nutrition for Life by Parul Kharod
Eating too fast can lead to a variety of health risks In this era of fast paced lives, we want everything to be quick. Everyone is busy and no one has time. Our calendars are packed with activities. In fact, people are so busy that they either have no time to eat or they shove food into their mouths whenever they can spare a few minutes here and there through the day. While your busy schedule may make you feel very accomplished, have you ever considered what it does to your body? Studies have shown that eating too fast can lead to a variety of health risks including indigestion and upset stomach, acid reflux, loss of natural hunger and satiety cues, and longer-term problems such as weight gain, poor blood sugar control which may increase risk of diabetes, and increased risk of heart disease. Therefore, we need to start paying attention to not only what type of food we eat but also the speed with which we eat.
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Slow Eating - Benefits of Chewing Slowly According to Ayurveda, we should be chewing every bite 32 times! While that may not seem entirely practical, it does help to be mindful of how fast you are eating. When we start chewing, there are digestive enzymes released in the mouth. When food is not chewed well, it does not have the opportunity to mix with the facultative anaerobic bacteria that live in our mouth and on the tongue. These bacteria can reduce the nitrates in food to nitrites in the mouth. When the nitrites are swallowed, they are further reduced by gastric acid to nitric oxide. Nitric Oxide is one of the most important molecules for blood vessel health. It’s a vasodilator, meaning it relaxes the inner muscles of your blood vessels, causing the vessels to widen. In this way, nitric oxide increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure. Thus, prolonged chewing has a direct impact on heart health. When food is chewed, the absorption is safe and slow. This prevents blood sugar fluctuations which can improve hormone balance. It helps with satiety and prevents acid reflux. When we eat fast, it also messes up the hunger and continued on page 58
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April 2021
