How to Improve Your Digestion Very Easily.

Quite a few years ago, I learned an important point about nutrition in Alexander Solzenhitsyn's short novel, "One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch". I have practised it ever since.


The book is just what it says on the cover; an account of one day of survival for its main character, Ivan, who is imprisoned in a Russian labour camp in Siberia. Although very sombre, it is an uplifting tale of the human spirit.


On rising before dawn, Ivan queues for his bread ration for the day - a few hundred grams of coarse, black bread. He breaks it into two portions, carefully ensuring that not a single crumb is lost. He wraps one half and puts into his coat, where it will be safe from hungry thieves. This portion will accompany his evening meal of thin cabbage soup, after a hard day's labour.


Then, taking the remaining piece, he finds a quiet spot and eats it very slowly, chewing every mouthful exactly one hundred times, "to extract the maximum nutritional value" from it.


Just on these few pages, first I was struck by the fact that some people in this world are very hungry and we should not waste the food we have, but appreciate it.


Next, I noticed the importance of chewing one's food thoroughly. Many people gulp down their food. This makes eating an unsatisfying chore, rather than a pleasure. 


Chewing food stimulates receptors in our brains, telling us that we are satisfied and have actually eaten. If we gulp our food, we will soon feel hungry again because part of the satisfaction of eating is in the smelling, chewing, tasting and savouring of food while it is in one's mouth.


Later, when I studied nutrition for Health & Fitness, I learned how digestion starts in the mouth; chewing breaks down food, allowing digestive chemicals a greater surface area on which to act. One of those enzymes, amylase, is found in saliva.


Amylase acts on starch, coating the molecules. Next, it breaks down these compounds into simpler particles - maltose, maltotriose and dextrins, which are simple sugar carbohydrates.

You should not need to drink water with your meal when you chew your food sufficiently because saliva surrounds the chewed food in our mouths, lubricating this bolus, making swallowing easier. After passing through your stomach, the sugar carbohydrates from the amylase and starch reaction reach your small intestine, where new enzymes convert the sugars to glucose, your body's main fuel source.

Missing this important chewing stage in our mouths, means starches will remain undigested, increasing our likelihood of having diarrhea, flatulence, belly aches or constipation.

I don't chew my food one hundred times, but I certainly don't just swallow it. I take my time over eating. Usually, at  a meal with friends, I will be the last to finish. This is not because I talk too much!


Here in Britain, we rarely take enough time to enjoy a meal and digestive problems are common. Typically, we have a 30 minutes meal break at work. Compare this with France, Spain or Italy where lunch breaks are at least two hours long. No wonder they are renowned for their culinary appreciation! 


So, the message is this - slow down! Savour your food. Bite small mouthfuls. Don't stuff yourself. Set aside time to enjoy your food at every meal.  Eat slowly and you will avoid digestive problems.


Bon Appetit!