Digestion of Food and How to Improve the Digestion Through Good Eating Norms.
Food plays an important role in Fresh and wholesome food brings wisdom and nourishment to us. Our body incorporates this wisdom and become infused with the liveliness of food. Nourishing the body also calls for becoming cognizant of the mechanisms at play when we eat. When we look at the causes of stress we find that digestion is implicated. The roots of declined physiology can often be traced back to the following suboptimal digestion, physiological imbalances, or an overload of toxins. Therefore, we must gain an increased awareness of not only what we eat but also how we eat, why we eat, when we eat, and how we feel after we eat. Regarding the nourishment of the physical body, Indian ancient wisdom advices the following: Ok
From the Ayurvedic perspective, a primary concern is the ability to process what we put in our stomach and this encompasses the four steps of ingestion, digestion, assimilation and elimination.
Once the digestive process is optimised, next task is to utilise food in a manner that promotes physiological balance.
Let's investigate how to optimise digestion:
- Ingestion: A Heady Experience
When we realise that we embody the food we ingest, we begin to understand why, for the Vedic sages, the process of eating is a beautiful and sacred rituals. According to Ayurveda, digestion begin in the eye of beholder. There is no argument that the food itself feeds the cells in the body, but it is full sensory experience of eating that makes more exciting the physiology.
Digestion starts when we look at our food. Indeed the metabolic process begins when the food enters our mouth. Western scientific research estimates that 30 to 40 per cent of the total digestive response to any meal is triggered by the brain. Haven't you observed noticeable changes in your saliva when you see scrumptious meal sitting on the place before you? You may have witnessed a change in your digestive system just thinking about food. Our perception of food prompts our digestive system to get to work. Salivating is a sign that your body is preparing to break down the food it's about to eat.
Eating is indeed a heady experience. Seeing, smelling, and tasting food begins a cascade of reactions in the physiology. Our sensory awareness of the food stimulate nerve receptors in the oral and nasal cavities that really message to the brain. In turn, the brain primes the digestive organs and mobilized the intestine. The secretion of saliva, gastric acid and digestive enzymes announced that the party has begin. A rush of blood floods the organ of digestion and as if dancing to a happy tune , the intestines do the grumble, the rhythmic dance that ensures the proper movement of food through the digestive tract.
- Awareness: The Flame of Digestive Fire
Awareness is the spark that lights up your digestive fire. Without awareness even the purest foods that carry most vital messages can go unnoticed. The physiology assess the message that are brought in by the food; it. prepares for the event. We need to eat and taste in order to heal.
When your mind does not digest, the digestive system is hurt. Eating put us in a relationship with the food we consume. The mind must attend to the food that the body ingests if anything meaningful is going to be extracted from the interaction. What would happen if you were talking with a friend and he or she didn't pay any attention? At best, you'd walk away feeling unheard and unsatisfied; at worst, misunderstood and angry.
So it is with the process of digestion. Paying attention to the task at hand makes everything go to better, whether the task is eating or talking a friend. When we eat at high speed, or we make eating one of the several task we perform simultaneously, we do not digest efficiently. Habitually engaging in attentive eating, or attention-deficit eating can message up the workings of your gut by squelching your digestive fire.
- Eating as a Scared Ritual
Now that we have taken the steps to ignite our digestive fire, the next issue is to focus on maximizing the assimilation of the food we ingest. When we realise that the physical body is the vessel of the spirit, the mundane task of eating takes on a deeper meaning. Nourishing the body in order to nurture the spirit requires making act of eating a scared rituals. This means that the process of how we eat is as important as what we eat. A nice table setting can enhance the ritual of eating; gobbling food as we walk down the street or race somewhere in our car does not.
- The Effect of Mood on Food
We have already discussed how food affects the mood. Now let's discuss how mood affects food, that is, how our emotional state at the time we eat affects our ability to digest. Digestion is hard work for the body. It is even harder if it does not have the full support of the physiology, especially the brain and the nervous system.
The nervous system has a tremendous impact on the functioning of the digestive
system for optional digestion and assimilation of food, the digestive system needs the nervous system to send messages to the pancreas asking for the production and release of digestive enzymes and harmons like insulin and glucagon. The nervous system also interact with the circulars system enlisting it in the endeavour. As if sending troops on a mission, the circulatory system must divert blood and remote it towards the trunk of our body in order to aid the intestine in the absorption of nutrients.
Stress makes a mess of digestion. We are evolutionarily programmed not to digest when we are under the influence of stress. Our primitive ancestors would not eat when a dangerous wild animals was prowling about, for this would threaten their survival. In modern times, however the stress comes in more subtle form: as bits of information from TV, the newspaper and thoughtless or argumentative conversation.
Relaxation ensures assimilation. We are wired to best assimilate food when we are in a calm environment. The Ayurveda advises that food should be consumed in an environment that enhances relaxation. As much as possible, create an agreeable, quite atmosphere. A pleasant dining experience will give you a good guy feeling. At the very least, do not argue, work, read or watch TV while you eat; rather focus on your food and experience of eating. You will digest more efficiently if you pay attention to what you are doing. Pay attention to the taste and texture of the food. Eating food that is pleasant to both sight and palate. Eating should be a source of joy.
A settled mind means a receptive tummy. Try not to eat when you are upset or mentally distracted. Offer a smile to the food as gesture of gratitude for the nourishment it will provide. If this doesn't come naturally to you, we suggest that you pretend fake it till you make it. The nervous and digestive system work well together only if they are given the opportunity to do so.
- The Important of Sitting While Eating
Always sit down to eat. Sitting down to eat informs our mind that we are focused on the food we are about to consume, rather than on myriad other activities. Taking a few minutes to sit and and look at your food and induces a relaxation response in your physiology. This response triggers a release of biochemicals that aid in the digestive process. Additionally, the act of folding our hips directs our blood to the top half of the body, where it is needed for digestion, rather than to the legs, where it would otherwise go. In fact, this is the logic behind prescribing a yoga asana to aid digestion after the meal such as Hero pose (in Hindi - Bazra Asana).
Finally, do not eat right before going to bed. If you eat late at night, the food will not be digested properly. During the night the body works hard to clean up the physiology. When the body is in shutdown mode, the digestive process are far from efficient.
- Stocking the Digestive Fire
The Vedic sages used the term Agni (Fire) to describe the transformative power of digestion. Agni is our ability to change one substance in to another while extracting energy from it. If your Agni is low, your ability to absorb and digest is low. Agni exists in the mind as well as the body tissues, so it pertains to the ability to digest and assimilate thought as well food. Physical Agni, however is the principal Agni, the other form of Agni are related to it and can be determined to some extent by the state of the main source.
Low Agni accounts for all toxic build up in the physiology. This is very important when we are considering how to intervene in a case of depression. In general, depressed mentality reflects a physiology with low Agni. Agni burns up the food and confers vitality. If the body is not clogged with trash, digestion will be optimal. You can eat the perfect food at the perfect time in the perfect sitting, but if the digestive process are not optimal, the food will not be metabolized. In these instances, large molecules undigested food clog the digestive track and interfere with the free flow of natural intelligence in the body. When we diminish food the nutrients can be distributed throughout the body and communication among the physical body and system is unimpeded. The eventual result will be a healthy glow and a vibrant spirit.
Following are some tips for digestion:
1. Eat When You Are Hungry:
Hungry is Mother Nature's prompt that it is time to eat. Learn to recognise the natural signals, and eat only when you are hungry. The sages advise you not to engage in emotional eating. You probably already knew that, but did you know that if you eat when you are upset, nervous, or unhappy, the food is not digested efficiently.
2. Eat Only 75 Percent Full:
After the meal, did you feel like the stuffed turkey? Nothing works efficiently on overload, including your digestive system. If you stop before you are full you will have room to breath and oxygen works wonders in the metabolic process.
3. Do Not Eat Until the Previous Meal is Digested:
Digesting a meal can take anywhere from three to six hours. Digestion consists of a natural assembly line. If you know something on the line while the previous items are still in process, you will create a jam. Give yourself time thoroughly digest your food before eating again.
4. Avoid Large Amounts of Liquid Before, During or After Meal:
Don't squelch your digestive fire. Sipping is fine during meals, but large amounts of liquid dampen the digestive process.
5. Make Lunch the Largest Meal of the Day
You are part of natural world. When the sun is at it's highest, your metabolic process are at their strongest. Eat the largest meal at that time. At night the body is shutting down, preparing for rest. Eating large meal late turns your body in to indigestion.
6. Avoid Iced Drink and Carbonated Beverage "
Your digestive enzymes and other vital factors were intended to operate at body temperature. Iced drink hamper the digestive process. Iced water is neither nice not wise. Enzymes also function best within a narrow PH range. Carbonated beverage are, in general, highly acidic. By alerting the PH of the physiology, they impair the breakdown of food.
7. Chew Your Food Well:
Your teeth play an important role in the digestive process. By breaking food down into smaller pieces, chewing increases the surface area of the particles. Enzymes and other biochemicals then have more area on which to work and the food is broken down into nutrients more efficiently.
8. Avoid Large Quantities of Raw Food:
Raw foods do have a higher nutritional content than cooked food, but they are difficult to digest. In order for our physiology to benefit from the extra nutritional value of raw foods, it must produce a more scorching digestive fire. This, we only succeed in taxing our digestive system if we eat raw foods in excess.
In the end, we can say that we should always pay attention while eating. We should also learn how to eat, what to eat, what not to eat, and how much we should eat. If we follow the norms of eating, our digestion will automatically improve, and we may be able to lead a healthy life.