Vitamin S - Slow Down

Vitamin S

Slow Down

Congratulations to you for your great work taking Vitamins for personal growth,

T3 - Three Things you are Thankful for,

I - Intention

and 

M - Mindset 

           

You are ready for your first nutrition Vitamin, 

Vitamin S - Slow Down.

           

It all comes down to the Stress Response and the Relaxation Response.

           

I cannot say effectively how vital it is for us to slow down with our food intake. 

Because I want to explain this fully I am quoting one of my instructors, Marc David from the Institute for the Psychology of Eating. 

One of the most overlooked aspects of nutrition is how the mind impacts

metabolism when it comes to food, body and weight.

There’s something scientists call the Cephalic Phase Digestive Response

– CPDR.

Cephalic means “of the head.” CPDR is simply a fancy term for how

pleasure, taste, aroma, satisfaction, and the visual stimulation of a meal

all impact digestion, assimilation, calorie burning, and appetite. In other

words, it’s the “head phase” of digestion.

What’s amazing is that researchers have estimated that as much as 30 to

40% of the total digestive response to any meal is due to CPDR - our full

awareness and experience of what we’re eating.

Can you recall a time when you saw your favorite food and your mouth

started watering or your stomach began churning?

That’s the cephalic phase digestive response.

Digestion quite literally begins in the head as chemicals and mechanical

receptors on the tongue and the oral and nasal cavities are stimulated by

smelling food, tasting it, chewing it, and simply noticing it.

A hearty awareness of our meal initiates the secretion of saliva, gastric

acid and enzymes, gut-associated neuropeptides, and production of

the full range of pancreatic enzymes, including trypsin, chymotrypsin,

pancreatic amylase, and lipase.

In addition, our awareness causes blood to rush to the digestive organs,

tells the stomach and intestines to rhythmically contract, and stimulates

electrolyte concentrations throughout the digestive tract to shift in

preparation for incoming food.

Simply Put: Awareness IS Metabolism

So let’s do the math. If scientists say that 30 to 40% of our total digestive

response to any meal is due to CPDR, and if we choose not to be aware

of our meal – that is, if we “fall asleep at the plate” and fail to register

any sense of taste, smell, satisfaction, or visual interest – then we’re

metabolizing our meal at only 60 to 70% efficiency.

Lack of attention translates into decreased blood flow to the digestive

organs, which means less oxygenation and hence a weakened metabolic

force. With less enzymatic output in the gut, we become susceptible to

digestive upset, bowel disorders, lowered immunity, fatigue, and more.

Next, appetite regulation is dramatically decreased when we miss the

Cephalic Phase Digestive Response.

That’s because the head brain and gut brain are constantly scanning the

body during a meal to determine nutrient status, whether or not the body

still needs more, what’s it missing, and when it’s time to signal that the

body is indeed full.

Much of this information comes from tasting our food, and from giving the

body enough TIME to chemically register and scan the meal.

Research indicates that it takes the body approximately 20 minutes to

realize that it’s full. Time is required for a full, healthy eating experience.

Without time, and thus without a full Cephalic Phase Digestive Response,

the brain cannot assess the nutrient profile of a meal, so even if we

chowed down our food and indeed ate more than enough, the brain

really has no idea that we’ve taken in all the nourishment we need.

To illustrate this, have you ever had the experience of eating a big meal

a little too quickly, and noticed that even though your belly felt full, your

mouth still felt hungry, and you were driven to eat more?

Well, that’s because your gut brain was saying that you were full, but your

head brain never experienced the meal, so it told you to keep eating.

This is why a lack of awareness and experience of our meals can lead to

overeating, binge eating, and even weight gain. And from there, it would

be easy for us to think we have a willpower problem, or a weight issue,

or that there’s something genetically or emotionally wrong with us. But

these aren’t the real issues at all. The problem is that we short-changed

our nutritional metabolism by not being fully present with our moment

and our meal.

Can you see why “sleepwalking” through a meal is an ill-informed

nutritional choice?

Metabolizing a meal is like absorbing a conversation. If you were talking

with a friend and she didn’t pay any attention, you’d walk away feeling

incomplete and wishing for more. The essence of your exchange would

have been minimally assimilated at best.

The same goes with food.

The point is not to become a lone, boring hermit when you eat. The idea

is to remind ourselves to bring more attention to our meal, no matter

what we’re doing as we nourish ourselves. The goal is to eat with the

kind of presence that has us celebrate the moment, the food, and the

preciousness of life.

Taking time with meals, along with bringing your full, hearty participation

to that meal, is a powerful nutritional strategy for optimum metabolism

and natural appetite regulation.

So, some great take-aways tips are:

• Slow down with food

• Increase the amount of time you devote to your meals

• Take in the eating experience and let yourself feel present and nourished

These are simple strategies you can do right now that can make a

huge difference when it comes to easy and natural appetite regulation,

digestive efficiency, and overall metabolic power.
(info@psychologyofeating)

When we eat fast we trigger the Stress Response in our body. When this happens we tell our body we are in danger.  Fight or flight reaction begins, just as if we were being chased by a lion. 

           

In the state of stress response it would be crazy for our body to metabolize and digest our food.  All of our energy flows to reaction and survival.  There is no time to assimilate, we are in trouble!  We can't build muscle,  we are in danger and need to get away!  A prolonged stress response will keep our body from boosting antibodies and tissue repair.  Our body can't handle it!  Our body will hang onto extra weight like a baby hangs onto it's 'blankie' to feel safe! 

           

Slowing down with food yields tremendous results.  Relaxation Response is the natural reaction to slow eating.  Relaxation Response tells our bodies we are safe.  In this state we break down our food,  digestion is enhanced and metabolic function and assimilation of nutrients is stimulated. 

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