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To understand why eating hygiene is important, you must first understand how stress impacts your body on a physiological level.
Stress impacts your digestion on a real physiological level
Your sympathetic nervous system is the “fight or flight” response. When it perceives danger, you get increased focus and alertness, but decreased metabolic activities. Nearly all your critical digestive secretions — stomach mucus, stomach acid, digestive enzymes — come to a screeching halt when your body is in fight or flight mode.
This is a biological state that was engineered for emergencies — think saber-toothed tiger attacking a caveman. But in our stressful modern lives, we live in the sympathetic state all too often. Even on a subtle level, stress can push us into the sympathetic nervous system response that wreaks havoc on our digestion. If we eat while watching the news, reading work emails, or in a rush, we compromise our digestion.
What’s the antidote? Slow down when you eat. Eating in a state of parasympathetic relaxation, with relaxed muscles and increased digestive secretions, allows our body to absorb maximum nutrients from our food.
“What intrigued me about working with HBH was the interest they take in how your belly and digestive system reacts to the foods that you are currently consuming. Is your digestive system happy?” — Emily P.
EATING HYGIENE TIP #2
Take one week to slow down and unitask while you eat your meals. Take a deep breath before you dig in, and notice how you feel while you’re eating.
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