Common Sources Of Stress: How (not what) You Are Eating.

A common source of stress on your body is how you eat.

So many books and diets deal with WHAT you are eating, but the HOW causes just as much stress on the body and needs to be carefully looked at.

Here are a few problems and solutions to the most common eating habits:

1. How you are eating.

The digestive process starts in the mouth and the purpose it to break the food down into smallliquefiedpieces, mixed with saliva. Is that the start of your digestive process or are you like the typical American and shove large chunks of food in your mouth and swallow them whole?

This process does not allow the food to be digested properly and you need to get into thehabitof CHEWING your food about 30 times before you swallow.

2. Eating too much at once.

Growing up in Europe I can compare the differences in eating patterns between Europe and America. The major difference is the portion size. In America we each eat enough in one meal to feed a small family and we are the fattest nation on earth.

The amount of calories we consume in one sitting is usually enough to last a day if it were spread out and in line withrecommendedguidelines. Also, when you ingest large amounts of carbohydrates it causes a spike in the blood sugar which increases insulin, then the drop makes you feel sluggish once you are done.

Digesting large quantities of food at once also takes up a lot of energy to try and break down all the food and takes energy away from other body functions.

The idea is to eat small meals every 2-3 hours that your body can digest without causing it undue stress.

3. Not eating enough.

Because we eat so much in one sitting, it is common then to go for hours without eating anything. This eating, then starving process causes the body to store food rather than use it. It causes havoc with the blood sugar and insulin levels.

New research shows that if you can keep your insulin levels low, that it will be almost impossible to be fat. But, that requires eating virtually no sugar and carbohydrates. Not as drastic as the Atkins Diet, but having high insulin levels makes it very hard to lose the fat. But that is another discussion in itself.

For now, 3 tips to reduce stress on your body and release more energy are:

1. Chew your food 30 times before you swallow

2. Don't eat too much in one sitting

3. Eat small balanced meals every 2-3 hours to maintain blood sugar and insulin levels.