How to get the best from your stomach
Eating food supports and strengthen the body. It has to work optimally if you are dieting. Follow these simple secrets to get the best from it.
Eat Lighter
1) The stomach deals with foods in the order they were eaten, so eating lighter, more watery foods before eating heavier, denser foods will greatly benefit digestion and prevent gas.
2) Our stomach needs all food turned to a liquid before any nutrients can be absorbed into the blood. Chewing our food to a watery pulp is the majority of this process.
3) Blended meals such as soups and smoothies give our stomach – and our jaws – the minimum amount of work to do. Nonetheless, it is still best to mix them with the saliva in our mouth before swallowing them.
Don’t overburden your stomach
4) If we feel tired and heavy after a meal, this means we have overburdened our stomach. Eating the amount of food that leaves us feeling satisfied but still alert after a meal will help keep the stomach strong. How do you know you have eaten enough? Close your eyes, put your hand on the stomach, and eat till you feel full. Open your eyes. You may well be surprised how much food has been left on your plate.
Don’t drink too much water during your meals
6) Drinking watery liquids dilutes the strength of the digestives acids in our stomach which break down our food. Drinking water is a poor replacement for eating juicy and watery fresh foods. Fresh foods hydrate our body much more completely and also help to keep the stomach strong and balanced due to the enzymes they contain. When we are thirsty, a juicy fruit will quench our body’s thirst in a way that water cannot.
Eat early
7) The stomach recharges and restores itself given the chance and night-time is the easiest time to do this. If there is food in our stomach when we fall asleep, it will not be digested properly and we will not rest fully. Going to bed having already digested our food means we will rest much more deeply. It also means we will awaken feeling lighter, more clear-headed, and alert. Eat early!
8) Whatever mood we are in while we eat will be fed back to the cells of our body along with the food we are eating. It will also continue to influence us for as long as that food stays in our system, which is usually several hours or more. It is better not to eat at all and take something for later on than to eat in a rush or eat when emotional.
9) It always takes a minute for the stomach to recognize that it is has had enough even though our taste buds may still want more. Eating patiently while listening to the stomach’s messages will make us more aware of what foods agree with us. In the same time, it will prevent us from overeating and feel bloated or sick.
10) The fewer foods we combine in our stomach at the same time, the more quickly and comfortably the stomach will do its job.
11) Eating cold or hot foods actually cause the stomach to contract as it has to bring all foods back to body temperature before proper digestion can occur. The more extreme the temperature, the more the stomach will contract. And the longer it will take for the stomach to return to a state of relaxation. Eat salads first and then the hot food on the plate.
