Eating Hygiene

Eating Hygiene – It’s not only what you eat but HOW you eat! – by Heather Wisely L.Ac 

Don’t drink much fluid (especially iced drinks) before meals.  

• Drinking plenty fluid 20 minutes before a meal will lead to your drink flushing your stomach acids out of your stomach leaving your stomach with no acid to digest your meals.  

Use a lot of high-quality herbs and spices in your cooking.  

• All culinary spices are digestive promoting herbs. Increasing your daily consumption of digestive enhancing herbs will promote weight loss through better digestive function.  

Cook most of your food (90% at least).  

• While raw foods do have more nutrient’s, they are significantly harder for your stomach to get to. The cooking your vegetables (and even some fruit) will break down the cell wall of the veggies making it easier for you to absorb more nutrient’s. The job of your stomach is to make your food into soup. The closer your food is to soup the more energy you save on digestion. The further your food is from soup the more your stomach expend energy on digestion.  

Eat your food warm or hot 

• The first thing your stomach has to do is bring your food up to core temperature. If your food or beverage is colder than your core temperature your body will need to use (or lose) energy just to heat it up. Eating your food warm will actually save you energy and the heat of your food will increase the energy of your digestive system, leaving more energy for you to use another way.  

Try to relax before eating and avoid stress and multi-tasking while eating 

• Take some deep belly breathes before eating. 
• Sit down to eat, avoid sitting at work desk and especially driving the car. 
• Take a moment to pray or feel thankful for the food you are about to eat. 
• The nervous system of your digestive system is broken into two segments – fight or flight and rest & digest. Your whole digestive system is designed to shut down while we are under stress.  So getting calm and relaxed before eating is vitally important to a healthy digestive system. Consequently, the fight or flight mode of operation also can alter hormones and cause issues with weight and fertility as well. We recommend getting daily relaxation practices into your lifestyle for many issues related to weight.   

Take some digestive bitters before meals and something fermented into each meal  

• Most cultures use bitter foods and fermented foods in every meal. Many herbalists feel that it is a distinct lack of bitter and sour flavors that is part of the American struggle with weight and digestion in general.  The bitter flavor helps your gallbladder to release bile, your stomach to excrete stomach acid and for your pancreas to release enzymes. It also helps promote urination and bowel movements for proper elimination of toxins. Many bitter herbs will also contain pre-biotics that are food for your probiotics.  Because it is hard to put bitter foods into each meal we recommend taking Digestive Bitters (an herbal remedy) before most meals to promote healthy digestion. You can take them again at the end of a really heavy or greasy meal too.  
• Fermented foods contain probiotics which are beneficial bacteria in your gut. Most cultures have at least 1-2 bites of something fermented with each meal. Think yogurt, kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc. Fermented foods are different from pickled foods. Fermented happens usually with yeast, cultures, or salt to preserve a food or beverage, and takes time to process the fermentation. Pickling is a vinegar preserve and while it will get you the sour flavor it won’t give you probiotics. So, watch your ingredients for active cultures!   

Fill your stomach 50% full of food then stop eating solid food. Fill your stomach 25% full of a warm or hot beverage then stop eating.  

• Remember the job of your stomach is to make your food into soup. Just like if you are making soup you wouldn’t fill your pot to the top with solid food then try to add fluid and spices. The same is true for your stomach, you don’t want to overfill it then have no room for fluids and the movement of digestion. Leave room for tea at the end of your meal and then some room for your stomach to churn your food.