Here's a quick energy tip for your upcoming holiday gatherings, and it's absolutely free.
The end of year holiday season will soon be upon us and along with that come the parties and the family get-togethers with the big buffets and dinners.
I can almost predict what the scene will look like after the huge meal; everyone is wishing they had a nice place to lie down for awhile - that is those who are not already sleeping on a chair.
Where did all the energy go? Have you ever heard of a principle called The Thermic Effect of Food? In short, it's the principle that states that your body has to expend energy to digest your food.
If you eat a piece of cantaloupe, that's not a problem.
Your body doesn't have to work very hard to digest a ripe piece of fruit.
But let's say you gorge on a meal of roast turkey, stuffing, candied yams, and pumpkin pie topped off with whipped cream.
Well now you're up close and personal with the Thermic Effect of Food.
Over the next several hours, your body will have to devote most of its available energy to process that meal.
It's telling you - sorry, I've got major work to do - you're going to have to leave me alone for awhile.
So, why don't you just sit down and relax? Well, here is a suggestion, and it's so simple that anybody can do it.
The answer - chew your food.
Chew your food until it becomes a watery blend and then swallow.
Why? Well here are several reasons for you to "chew" on.
#1) The obvious - chewing makes little ones out of big ones - meaning it mechanically breaks down larger pieces of food into smaller pieces, thus making it easier on all of the other biological systems that follow (esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, etc).
The Chinese have a saying that loosely translates as "The stomach has no teeth.
" #2) As you chew, you are thoroughly mixing food particles with the saliva and digestive enzymes in your mouth.
In effect, you are pre-digesting the food.
The longer you chew, the more time you expose the food to these digestive enzymes and ease the load on the rest of your system by doing some of the" heavy lifting" in advance.
#3) You will eat more slowly and, therefore, probably eat less.
#4) The satiety (fullness) signals your body sends to your brain when you are full will more likely work the way they are supposed to work.
#5) You will avoid incomplete digestion and the indigestion that goes along with it.
Your body is not designed to digest large chunks of food.
When it can't, those undigested food particles can cause indigestion and promote the formation of unfriendly bacteria in your intestines.
The main point is that by chewing your food more consciously and thoroughly, you will be taking some of the digestive load off your body, doing more of the work in advance.
Remember the Thermic Effect of Food; you will be saving your body from having to do all that work on its own.
The less work the body has to perform, the more energy that is left over for you to do other things.
Try it - you might feel a little better, a little lighter, a little more energetic this holiday season.
© Copyright 2007 HealthAndFitnessNow.
com.
All rights reserved.
The end of year holiday season will soon be upon us and along with that come the parties and the family get-togethers with the big buffets and dinners.
I can almost predict what the scene will look like after the huge meal; everyone is wishing they had a nice place to lie down for awhile - that is those who are not already sleeping on a chair.
Where did all the energy go? Have you ever heard of a principle called The Thermic Effect of Food? In short, it's the principle that states that your body has to expend energy to digest your food.
If you eat a piece of cantaloupe, that's not a problem.
Your body doesn't have to work very hard to digest a ripe piece of fruit.
But let's say you gorge on a meal of roast turkey, stuffing, candied yams, and pumpkin pie topped off with whipped cream.
Well now you're up close and personal with the Thermic Effect of Food.
Over the next several hours, your body will have to devote most of its available energy to process that meal.
It's telling you - sorry, I've got major work to do - you're going to have to leave me alone for awhile.
So, why don't you just sit down and relax? Well, here is a suggestion, and it's so simple that anybody can do it.
The answer - chew your food.
Chew your food until it becomes a watery blend and then swallow.
Why? Well here are several reasons for you to "chew" on.
#1) The obvious - chewing makes little ones out of big ones - meaning it mechanically breaks down larger pieces of food into smaller pieces, thus making it easier on all of the other biological systems that follow (esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, etc).
The Chinese have a saying that loosely translates as "The stomach has no teeth.
" #2) As you chew, you are thoroughly mixing food particles with the saliva and digestive enzymes in your mouth.
In effect, you are pre-digesting the food.
The longer you chew, the more time you expose the food to these digestive enzymes and ease the load on the rest of your system by doing some of the" heavy lifting" in advance.
#3) You will eat more slowly and, therefore, probably eat less.
#4) The satiety (fullness) signals your body sends to your brain when you are full will more likely work the way they are supposed to work.
#5) You will avoid incomplete digestion and the indigestion that goes along with it.
Your body is not designed to digest large chunks of food.
When it can't, those undigested food particles can cause indigestion and promote the formation of unfriendly bacteria in your intestines.
The main point is that by chewing your food more consciously and thoroughly, you will be taking some of the digestive load off your body, doing more of the work in advance.
Remember the Thermic Effect of Food; you will be saving your body from having to do all that work on its own.
The less work the body has to perform, the more energy that is left over for you to do other things.
Try it - you might feel a little better, a little lighter, a little more energetic this holiday season.
© Copyright 2007 HealthAndFitnessNow.
com.
All rights reserved.