Nutrition Information

Translate this page into:
Spanish TranslationFrench TranslationGerman translationItalian translationPortuguese translationArabic translationJapanese translationKorean translationChinese translationRussian translation

Chew Your Food


I am going to share with you possibly the most important piece of advice you will ever receive about nutrition. This piece of advice is not about supplementation. It is not about what you should be eating. However this piece of advice affects every other dietary choice that you make.

Are you ready?

Chew your food!

Chewing is the first step of the digestive process. The fancy word for it is mastication. What it means is that what you put in your mouth is ground up into smaller pieces and mixed with some digestive enzymes to begin the digestive process.

What is the digestive process? To understand the process, it's best to first understand the purpose. The purpose of digestion is to extract beneficial materials from what you eat and expel the rest. This process involves breaking down your food into smaller and smaller pieces. When some of those pieces are small enough they are absorbed into your bloodstream. Other components, like insoluble fiber, continue on through your intestines and help to expel other waste products and to clean the surfaces of your intestines.

So what does this have to do with chewing? If you do not properly to your food, what you have eaten will go through your digestive system as large pieces of food. You do not have teeth anywhere else in your body. After you swallow your food, there are no other opportunities to break up large pieces of food. The acid from your stomach and the enzymes from your small intestine will only be able to act on the exposed surfaces. Chewing properly is the only way to grind up your food so that it is small enough to allow the rest of your digestive system to extract as many of the available nutrients as possible.

So the next time you eat, put a little thought into the first step of digestion. Chew your food.

Dave Saunders is a certified nutritional educator, wellness coach and author. He is also the host of a weekly, nation-wide telephone lecture on health and nutrition. For additional information, please visit http://www.glycoboy.com or email Dave at dave@glycoboy.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Department of Defense

First Lady Lauds DOD's New Nutrition Campaign
Department of Defense
10, 2012 – The Defense Department's new obesity and nutrition awareness campaign sets a powerful example for the rest of the nation, First Lady Michelle Obama said yesterday. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to airmen in a dining facility on Little ...
US military meals redux: More fruit and vegetables, less fatLos Angeles Times
Military food getting nutrition upgradeCBS News
Hold the mystery meat: Military bases to get first nutrition standards upgrade ...Washington Post
Politico (blog) -StandardNet
all 344 news articles »


Nutrition tip: Eating for a healthy heart
Lakenewsonline.com
By Anita Marlay The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that diseases of the heart remain the No. 1 cause of mortality in the United States, causing 600000 deaths a year. Heart protective eating habits can help to lower your risk of ...
Helping your heartfwdailynews.com

all 4 news articles »


Cambridge News

Healthy Chocolates Make a Lovely Valentine
Patch.com
Nutrition author explains which chocolates are richest in anti-oxidants; fruit and nut gifts also help keep valentines' hearts healthy so they can love you longer. By Pam DeFiglio and Christopher Brinckerhoff Chocolate flavors are incredibly complex ...
Perryman Nutrition Column: Go Ahead, Chocoholics, a Little Chocolate is Good ...Colorado State University News (press release)

all 21 news articles »


OUR Center's Empty Bowls fundraiser highlights nutrition
Longmont Daily Times-Call
This year's event also is shining a spotlight on nutrition. Last week, at a sunny table at Crackpots in Longmont, Jean Youngman painted a plate modeled after the US Department of Agriculture's new "Choose My Plate" dietary guidelines that first lady ...



Boston Globe

LETTER: 'No cuts to Elder Nutrition Program'
Fall River Herald News
Deval Patrick has proposed a 24 percent cut in the Elder Nutrition Program that not only provides lifesaving sustenance to the elderly, but also a lifeline through daily contact with the caring volunteer that delivers the meal.
Patrick's budget would cut senior mealsBoston Globe

all 3 news articles »


Walmart Unveils 'Great For You' Icon
CSPnet.com
Items with the "Great For You" icon must meet rigorous nutrition criteria informed by the latest nutrition science and authoritative guidance from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of ...
Walmart Will Soon Teach You How To Eat RightCo.Exist
Walmart Knows What's Good for YouTriple Pundit
Walmart's New Healthy Labels: Great for You, or Great for Them?brandchannel.com
DailyFinance
all 6 news articles »


Globe and Mail

Walmart to Label Healthy Foods
New York Times
As part of its promise last year to improve the nutritional quality of the food it sells, Walmart said on Tuesday that it had devised standards to determine what is healthy and would label the foods that meet those standards.
Should shoppers trust Walmart's 'Great for You' nutrition labels?Globe and Mail
Walmart 'Great for You' Healthy Labels: Nutrition Experts Say 'Devil in the ...ABC News
How Good Is Walmart's 'Great For You' Nutrition Labeling?TIME
Sacramento Bee -FoodNavigator-USA.com -The White House (blog)
all 409 news articles »


NorthJersey.com

Coming soon: Nutrition labels for health insurance
Washington Post (blog)
Think of them as nutrition facts for a health insurance plan that outline a health plan's deductible, out-of-pocket limits and costs for visits to the emergency room or primary care doctor. What you see above is one part of a four-page document that ...
Obama: Health plan briefs must be consumer-friendlyUSA TODAY
Summaries to spell out health insurance coverage, copaysChicago Tribune
More Understandable Health Insurance Info Is On the WayEveryday Health

all 253 news articles »


Boston.com

First lady talks nutrition in Florida
MiamiHerald.com
AP HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Michelle Obama is assuring kids and parents that hamburgers and chicken nuggets aren't completely off-limits as she chats about healthy eating and exercise during a town hall meeting in Florida. The first lady took part in a WebMD ...
First lady announces expansion of military nutrition program on Arkansas visitArkansas News
UPDATED: First Lady Michelle Obama and Top Chefs put on cooking show in DallasPegasus News
Michelle Obama marks 'Let's Move' milestone with arugula, 'Interlude Dance' (+ ...Christian Science Monitor
Radio Iowa -PBS NewsHour
all 815 news articles »


Nutritional Medicine for Adults Workshop Series at Rush University Medical Center
Newswise (press release)
Newswise — CHICAGO — Rush University Medical Center is sponsoring a Nutritional Medicine workshop March 15 to 16, 2012, that features internationally-renowned faculty who are leaders in research in nutritional medicine. The workshop is part of a ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006