Welcome back! Thank you for joining for more PROSPERITY this New Year.

After the general list of Intelligent Eating Habits let us look at some of them in details. I hope that I may give you more PROSPERITY on why you should pay attention to your eating habits. Having greater PROSPERITY, understanding, we tend to make changes with higher success. We tend to find the HOW, when we have a big enough WHY.

We are all human beings. Let's start with that. The nature of our life and health journey is similar to the route of a sailboat. In order to get to somewhere we need to catch the wind and travel in a zigzag line. Sometimes we take longer detours before we notice that we are too far off course and we need to change direction. With experience we steer a more direct path and learn to course-correct more efficiently. Unfortunately most of us need to experience getting too far off course before we can turn around. My point here is that we do get to this point to sooner or later. The sooner means, before we get serious health problems; later means having a serious health problem.

We all tend to get rushed at times. You are not alone letting things running your life sometimes. After burning several pots and pans and most of my meals because I check my email, take the garbage out, unpack the groceries, fold laundry while I am on the telephone… then I sit down and pay some bills while I eat my meal. I am still thinking about what else do I have to do and I keep raving inside. After I gobbled my food down I return to rushing some more doing other things….until the lovely signs of indigestion (stomach ache, bloating, constipation, interrupted sleep) came around. I just could not stand it anymore to feel that way!

It wasn't always this way. The answer came after returning from one of trip to home in Hungary. All the sudden it occurred to me what's wrong with this picture. I grow up in an environment where meal times were sacred. We used to practice Intelligent Eating Habits! Having the big enough WHY - indigestion - slowly I started to pay attention to how ate. The first thing I picked from the list was: CHEWING MY FOOD UNTIL IT IS PUREE. Wow, what an experience that was! Chewing and moving my jaw seemed hard work!! But what a difference it made!

Lets see why chewing is important? Chewing is the first step in our digestion. The teeth mechanically break down the food into smaller particles and chewing - turning the food around in the mouth - will allow it to mix with saliva. Saliva contains a digestive enzyme (amylase), which starts to brake down the large carbohydrate molecules, such as starches, into shorter ones. This step is only available in the mouth. The digestion of protein begins in the stomach and the digestion of fat begins in the small intestines. If we skip the first part we end up with uncomfortable symptoms of indigestion caused by the partially digested food.

Through digestion our body transforms, breaks down food into small absorbable particles. Nutrients such carbohydrate, protein and fat then become fuel and keeps us alive "Keeps the engine running." Through digestion our body is able remove vitamins and minerals from food to aid vital biochemical processes, which will determine "how smooth the engine is running. "

What you might gain by chewing, besides a flatter stomach, is feeling lighter, having more energy, allowing you to get done your work more efficient, and to spend more time on yourself. What do you have to lose? Your extra pounds?

Practice: take a piece of lettuce and chew it until it becomes a complete puree. Watch a clock in the mean time and see how long it took. You will be surprised.

…Until next time, when we discuss taste and satisfaction.