The Practical Nutritionist, LLC

Audrey J Pellegrino, M. Ed, M.HN,CNW®

Nationally board Certified Nutritional Wellness

Holistic Nutritionist/Educator

603-768-3214

practicalnutrition@gmail.com

www.pnutritionist.com

SLOWER MIGHT BE BETTER

As I write this article, I have just finished having Easter dinner with my family. One of my brothers brought roasted vegetables and some of them were fresh parsnips that he just pulled from his garden. As the first fruits of the spring, they were delicious! Parsnips are a vegetable that you plant and then have to patiently wait for them to grow and winter over and then you can finally harvest and eat them. Garlic is best when left alone for a while, fruit trees can take up to ten years to bear fruit and asparagus takes three patient years before you can harvest it. If you take it slow and be patient you are rewarded.

There is a movement, worldwide, that focuses on taking it slow and being rewarded with delicious and nutritious foods. It was begun in response to the fast food industry and our habits of eating quickly and on the go. The focus is to prepare meals, and eat at home, making it a social event focusing on real food that is prepared together. Currently the average meal time for Americans is eleven minutes for dinner and two to five for breakfast and lunch.

There are other reasons to eat slowly and one is that digestion begins when you chew. Enzymes which break down your foods are first released in your mouth. If you eat too quickly you are bypassing this step and causing your body to work harder to get your nutrients from your food.

You might get indigestion from eating too quickly because you are not giving your stomach time to “send out” the acid and enzymes which break down your food and are activated by your chewing. Instead you are sending a full meal to your stomach at once. Like anything if you try to do an entire task you become overwhelmed and do not do it to the best of your ability, it is the same with your stomach and digestive system.

Your mother probably told you to chew your food and to slow down, so your stomach will know when it is full. Mothers do know best. This month, take a processed food, such as a chip and chew it twenty five times and after the first few chews the taste becomes non-pleasant, then take a whole food such as a strawberry and chew it twenty five times and the taste remains pleasant.

If we are patient we will be rewarded.