The power in slowing down

Slowing down may seem like such a hard concept to grasp in our ever moving, fast-paced world. But if there is one area that we should try to focus on slowing down in, that should be with consuming our food.

I know that I am guilty of inhaling my food because I have a toddler who needs my attention, or I ran out of time, or I’m on my way somewhere. And I think that many others can relate to this. We just feel like we don’t have enough time in the day so we grab a quick bite to eat on the way to work, we sit our desk in front of our computer inhaling our food because we need to be at a meeting or on a zoom in a few moments, or sometimes, we just forget, so when we finally get home, we shovel anything and everything into our mouths because we’re starving. But, this can really have some adverse impacts to our overall health and wellness.

When we rush to eat our food, our brain sends a signal to gear us up for “fight or flight”, activating our sympathetic nervous system. It sends blood away from our digestive organs to help prepare us to fight or flee. So now the food we just inhaled kind of just hangs out in our stomachs, waiting to be digested properly. Ever wonder why you experience gas or bloat right after eating something? Well, this may be one reason why. When we rush to eat our food, we also let our brain know that we simply are not satisfied, so hunger kicks in an hour later, or we find ourselves just “grazing” on snacks.

But, when we slow down, and focus on eating, something shifts. Our parasympathetic nervous system kicks on, allowing for our bodies to “rest and digest”. Blood flows to our digestive organs and our food is able to be properly digested. We also may discover that we get full easier and feel completely satisfied. Sometimes, we might even find ourselves actually tasting the food we are eating, which might sound surprising. When this happens, we either find ourselves really enjoying the foods, or discovering we truly didn’t really like it after all.

So, what’s the takeaway? Despite our hectic and busy lives, we can set some time aside to slow down and enjoy at least one meal per day. Chew slowly and thoroughly, relish in the flavors, and discover that slowing down can help to maintain balance to our overall health and wellbeing.