Key points for a good digestion
• Chew every bite until it turns liquid in your mouth (50 to 100 times): In Chinese Medicine there’s a saying: “Drink your solids, chew your liquids”. Chewing improves digestion and absorption. It also helps regulates and strengthen the immune and nervous system. So, remember to chew!
• Eat relaxed and in a relaxed environment: Avoid eating while watching TV, working in the computer, reading, driving, walking, excessively talking, looking at the newspaper, etc… While done at the same time as eating, all these things lower your digestive capacity.
• Keep a regular schedule for meals: This is very important for the digestive function and your spleen and pancreas according to Chinese Medicine. Also avoid long periods of time without eating and feeling hungry.
• Eating smaller meals more frequently during the day: For most of us is much better to eat a smaller meal 4-5 times a day than 1 very large meal at the end of the day.
• Have breakfast: Starting the day with a nice simple breakfast that includes protein is essential to start well the day and keep your energy levels steady.
• Avoid overeating: overeating is one of the most common causes for digestive weakness. Ideally one should eat relatively slow and stop when feeling full.
• Avoid eating and drinking cold things: This is one of the most common reasons for putting weight. The body has to warm up those things to be digested and eventually the effort lowers its digestive fire, which generates internal phlegm and accumulates liquids.
• Have a balanced diet: Lots of vegetables slightly cooked, some fish, meat or vegetable protein, some whole grains, a little fruit and sweets.
• Be grateful for having food: Don´t take the abundance of food we experience for granted. Be consciously grateful and wish everybody who is experiencing lack to have their needs fulfilled easily.
And last but not least:
• Everything with moderation, even moderation: Following a good diet and some nutritional common sense is very important but it doesn’t mean to become rigid or strict. A good general rule is the 80/20. 80% of the time we follow the therapeutic directions and 20% of the time we can enjoy and experiment with other things and see how we feel.