WHY YOU’RE NOT SEEING RESULTS, EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE EATING HEALTHY?
Are you eating healthier, but still seeing no progress in the direction that you expect?
You’re not the first to experience this problem, and most certainly won’t be the last.
There are several factors that will dictate the level of progress you do or don’t see.
For the purpose of this article, I’ll be focusing on your digestion and the role it plays in helping you make progress.
What Is Digestion?
To understand digestion, you must appreciate the fact that all foods contain a different make-up of nutrients.
The macronutrients you will have heard more frequently include protein, carbohydrates, and fats. These all have different roles that support your health, performance, and your body’s internal functions.
Similarly, you also have micronutrients, which are needed by the body in relatively smaller amounts. These include your minerals and vitamins, see these as the keys that help to unlock the benefits from the macronutrients listed above.
Take for example Vitamin A, commonly found in seafood & cod-liver oil. This helps to stimulate gastric juices that support the digestion of proteins.
Once the protein has been digested it can then go on to, build and repair tissue that may have been damaged as a result of training or injury. It also goes on to support healthy hair, nails and bones.
In essence, digestion is the process in which our body breaks down food into smaller components, that can be absorbed and transported throughout the body.
The process of digestion starts in the mouth when you chew food, carrying on through the stomach, pancreas, liver, intestine and eventually eliminating any waste products through excretion.
Given that the process requires so many different parts of your body, it is, therefore necessary to look at how you can put your body in a more optimal position to aid digestion.
How To Optimise Digestion?
Optimal digestion simply means your body is in a position to make the best use of the nutrients consumed in the food you eat.
To help you make more sense of this concept, think about when you’re learning a new subject.
If you tried to learn a new piece of information, whilst watching an episode of your favourite show on Netflix and texting back a friend, the chances of you retaining that new information would be very slim.
The reason being, because the mind can only focus on one or two things at any given time. So to give your full attention to learning, you would look to switch off any distractions that could steal your attention.
Similarly, as complex as your body is, it wasn’t designed to focus on multiple different tasks all the time. Hence, it can switch between two states, called the parasympathetic state and sympathetic state.
The sympathetic state was designed to help your body detect danger and choose the appropriate response, fight or flight.
If you’ve walked down a quiet road at night and suddenly hear some footsteps approaching from behind, you’ll have probably noticed the following;
Your senses become heightened.
Your heart rate begins to rise.
There is a sudden rush of adrenaline.
If you were hungry before, that’s most likely a thought that can wait until later.
This happens so that you can focus on your survival, and choose a response that will ultimately lead to your safety. But outside of the noticeable changes that happen in this state, your body also inhibits salivation and digestive activity in the stomach.
The sympathetic state is only a state that you should be spending about 10% of your time in. Staying in this state for periods of time can lead to chronic stress, promote retention of body fat due to the rise in cortisol levels, excess fatigue and sleep disturbances.
On the flip side of this we have the parasympathetic state, often referred to as the rest & digest state. Whilst in this state your body will be more optimal at learning, recovering, and digesting.
Whilst in the parasympathetic state, these are the processes that happen of which some help to optimise digestion;
The process of salivation is stimulated, which provides more saliva to help break down your food as you chew.
Your heart rate begins to slow back down.
Digestive activity in the stomach is stimulated, which supports the bread down of protein.
Digestive activity in your gallbladder is also stimulated, supporting the digestion and absorption further down in the small intestine.
The Importance Of Digestion!
So as you can now see, there is a clear difference between how well your body can digest food, depending on which state you are in at the time of consumption.
In doing so, you increase your body’s ability to repair, grow, and progress in the direction of your expected goal.
To make sure that you can reap the associated benefits of the nutrients in the food consumed, it is therefore advised that you look to stimulate your parasympathetic system before & during eating.
Here are a few simple methods you can use to do so;
Box breathing. Before eating take a few minutes to get control of your breathing. Count 4 seconds as you inhale, in through your nose. At the top of your breath, count 4 seconds and hold your breath. Then slowly exhale through your nose, as you count 4 seconds. Repeat as many times as needed.
Avoid eating at your desk or workstation. Find a space that is calming and won’t have your mind stressing about the unfinished projects you have left to do at work.
Chew and break down your food thoroughly before swallowing, the closer it is to a liquid state the easier it is digested. Aim to chew each bite 20 times before swallowing.
Where time permits, go for a short walk after you have eaten to support your digestion.
