How to get a flat tum just by chewing more food

Bloating is the bane of women’s lives. But a new book reveals a simple way to beat it — without dieting!

AThrIVINg digestive system has the power to give us all the good things we desire: dewy, blemish-free skin, strong hair and nails, bouncy energy, restful sleep, relief from ailments — even a trim waistline. But many of us have unhappy tummies and some form of mild digestive dysfunction, which triggers bloating, pain, discomfort and stubborn weight gain.

As a nutritionist, health coach and author of new book go With Your gut, I believe we are all subconsciously sabotaging our digestive process every time we skip lunch, get home starving and gorge on tortilla chips, rush through a sandwich when stressed, or polish off an entire pot of hummus without even noticing.

All of this has a profound impact on our health, energy levels and silhouette. It’s being too tired to go to the gym or practise yoga, or using your 3pm latte to keep you awake after lunch. It’s that ‘ugh’ feeling on a weekday morning and a couch collapse on a Sunday.

But, most of all, it is the gut discomfort and bloat that makes weight loss impossible.

Bloating can be caused by eating too much and too fast, downing too many fizzy drinks or even chewing gum. It might be triggered by erratic hormones or undiagnosed food intolerances to sugar, gluten, processed foods, dairy products and even health foods.

But radical exclusion diets are not the answer. I am convinced that no matter how many diets, weight-loss supplements, fasts, soups or juices we try, we will only end up getting grumpier and more bloated unless we stop — just briefly — and pay a little attention to our gut.

Instead, I have devised a simple, three-step process to help resolve stubborn food issues without the need to diet. All you have to do is think about what you’re eating, breathe and, above all, chew: up to 150 times per mouthful.

The good news is that my advice is easy and affordable to follow and you don’t have to forgo your favourite restaurant or avoid bread for ever. Instead, I have put the focus firmly on good digestive habits to heal the body from the inside out — leaving you looking slimmer and feeling healthier.

THINK BEFORE YOU EAT

NIBBlINg on biscuits as you flick through a magazine, popping crisps in your mouth as you slump in front of the TV, shovelling in pasta with one hand while texting with the other — most of us eat without thinking. But whether you have a tendency for emotional eating, stress eating or

mindless eating, it is much more difficult to know when you are full if you are wildly distracted as you eat. It is all too easy to eat faster and chew less, and you can end up feeling as if you haven’t even eaten at all.

So, next time your mind drifts to the next meal, stop and ask yourself what you really want to eat. Do you want meat? Pulses? Would you rather eat this meal from a plate or a bowl? Do you fancy light and crunchy, or heavy and warm? Spicy? Salty? Sweet?

In having this conversation with yourself, you are tuning in to your instincts. This is the first step towards fixing your digestion and connecting to the intuitive place inside that knows what your body (and health) needs.

Make a point of eating as many of your meals as you can with minimal distractions. Enforce a meal-time screen ban — music is OK, and stress-free company is to be encouraged, but make every effort to focus on your food and the complete experience of eating: texture, taste, smell and how the food makes you feel.

You can start this process with one meal, or just a snack, and then baby step your way towards more mindful eating from there.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH

IT IS scientifically proven that stress, or emotional upheaval, affects levels of the hormone cortisol, which, in turn, disrupts our blood sugar levels and the brain’s ability to communicate smoothly with the digestive system. This explains why appetite and digestion are so sensitive to our moods.

But we have the power to change how our body reacts to food. Through a few simple breathing exercises, we can make life so much easier for our gut.

Meditation experts have long known that breathing exercises are a simple way to distract a buzzing mind from the other worries of your day. Stress typically makes our breathing shorter and shallower but, by slowing it down and taking deeper breaths, we can reduce stress and boost the oxygenation of the blood which feeds the entire digestive system.

Simply taking a few moments to breathe deeply and fully at different points in the day can be enough to have significant reverberations for your health and digestion.

And breathing slowly and carefully while eating allows the body to relax. Make a point of using slow, deep belly breaths before you start to eat.

Try this exercise: Place your hand on your heart. Inhale deeply, expanding your belly and breathing into your lower back and sides. hold this breath, then make a full, long exhalation, emptying your lungs. Check your face. Are your lips pursed? Are you frowning? Imagine your face softening. Check your body for tension and release it.

CHEW TO A PULP

IN ThE rush of modern life, we have lost touch with the importance of chewing. Yet your mouth is where the digestive process begins. Saliva contains important digestive enzymes that can only start working if food spends a little time in the mouth before being swallowed.

Chewing also breaks down food, increasing the surface area on which the enzymes can work. This allows the body to receive minerals and nutrients from food and properly utilise its contents. Swallow too soon and you skip half the digestion process.

If whole or poorly-chewed bits of food enter the digestive tract, they can set off a disastrous chain of events, putting the body in crisis management mode. It’s an unnecessary stress.

Organs that should be performing necessary functions are called upon to begrudgingly assist with digesting. They respond by triggering an inflammatory response, and your body talks back with gas, bloating, acid reflux and heartburn. Indeed, most cases of bloating can be blamed on gas produced by undigested food. Some experts advocate chewing each mouthful up to 150 times, but it’s not essential to count every bite. Just get into the habit of chewing every bit of food until it is a liquid mush. Even soups and smoothies need to spend a little time in your mouth before swallowing, so they can benefit from the digestive enzymes in your saliva. So, before you swallow each mouthful, ask yourself: ‘Is this mush? Could I chew a few more times?’ If you find yourself speeding through a meal, take two deep breaths — then get back into methodically chewing again.

DON’T FILL UP

BANISh all thoughts of eating until you are ‘full’ and just aim to be no longer hungry instead — a happy stomach needs a little room for your food to mix and properly digest.

Take special care when eating kale or cabbage: these are nutritious, but can be difficult for the stomach to break down. The solution? Give them a massage! rub a handful back and forth in your hands until it starts to wilt. This helps to soften the fibres, making it easier to digest.

You should also try the ‘no bodybashing cleanse’. Create a zerotolerance rule around any harmful, mean thoughts you may have about your body. This is a stress your digestive system could do without.

ration yourself to one ‘ugh! Where did this back fat come from?’ — or whatever other self-criticism pops up — per week, then once a fortnight and then once a month.

SLIM FROM WITHIN

DE-BLOAT your body by drinking water infused with natural diuretics and detoxifying ingredients.

Cucumber and lemon work to alkalise your body, while cayenne and ginger jump-start your metabolism and aid in flushing out your organs.

Add 1 tsp freshly grated ginger; one cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced; one lemon, thinly sliced; the juice of two limes; and ½ tsp cayenne pepper to 2 litres water. Aim to drink one jug every day.

But don’t drink water with meals: it dilutes gastric juices. Instead, avoid water for 30 minutes before meals and wait an hour after before rehydrating.

GO WITH THE FLOW

DOES your digestive system shut down when travelling? Or do you hold things back at work? One common problem could be lurking at the root of your bloating and digestive issues: stress-related constipation.

If stress, medication, or lack of water, fibre or physical activity are making your lower gut contract too slowly, food can spend too long in transit, which means the water content is absorbed — and that’s when things can get uncomfortable.

Mindfulness and breathing exercises will help ease the stress, fibre in the diet is a must (increase consumption of fruit, veg, nuts, seeds and wholegrains), and drinking more water certainly helps. But physical movement is the key to getting the blood pumping and juices flowing.

AdApted by LOUISe AtKINSON from Go With Your Gut by Robyn Youkilis, published by Kyle Books.