3 Ways to Support Digestion Before you Start Eating

Why we want to optimise digestion before we swallow....

It may come as a surprise to some of your that optimal digestion  actually starts even before we put anything in our mouth. What we do in the moments before we take a bite can play a pivotal role in how well we extract the nourishment from the delicious food we are about to ingest.

You see, there are two major processes we need to stimulate in the mouth to optimise our digestion:

# 1 - Saliva Production (chemical breakdown of food)

#2 - Chewing (mechanical breakdown of food)

Digestion starts with anticipation of the food we are going to eat and engagement of our senses, which is turns  STIMULATES SALIVA production and INNERVATES OUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM ready to receive what's coming it's way and the CHEWING allows us to breakdown the foods into small parcels that the digestive system can start to work with.

Maximising Saliva

Saliva is produced by the salivary glands in your mouth, which are stimulated by our senses of touch, smell, sight and taste. When saliva is released into our mouths, we start the ball rolling in terms of firing up our digestive system ready to receive.

Saliva is super important to start the digestion of carbohydrates and fats in the mouth as saliva contains the digestive enzymes which break these macronutrients down.

Practice This:

#1 Be Present

- Avoid distractions at the dinner table

- Remove competing contenders for your attention (such as work, technology, stress)

- Look at what you are about to receive and take note of the colours, textures, and size of the items on your plate

#2 Relax - Abdominal Breathing

- Taking a few deep abdominal breathes before you eat activates your parasympathetic nervous system. It takes you out of your 'stressed' state and allows your body to focus on 'digestion'.

#3 Practice engaging all of your senses

- Before you start eating, engage all of your senses by looking at your food, smelling it and really taking the time to appreciate what you are about to eat and where it came from. You will feel your digestive juices start flowing!