By Katie Welborn, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve said this to my kids or even my husband... Please don’t gobble your food and swallow big chunks - your stomach doesn’t have teeth!

The goal of digestion is to reduce food to molecules so that the nutrients can be absorbed and used by the cells in our bodies. This starts in the mouth with chewing! Chewing your food not only breaks the food down into smaller particles, but it also sends a signal from your brain to your stomach to secrete digestive enzymes. These enzymes are important in the next steps of digestion in the stomach and beyond.

If you are rushing through your food, maybe eating standing up in the kitchen or in your car, or even just gobbling your food because you are overly hungry, you are compromising the very first and most important step of digestion.

SIT down, SLOW down, and CHEW your food — 20 to 30 times per bite is recommended!