Do you wash down your food by drinking something? Soda? Water? Tea? Wine? It’s a common habit that most people have. It makes it easier for us to get rid of food, to swallow it. Yet, it is one of the unhealthiest habits that exist.

Not digesting is food thrown awayl

In article 20, “Make Things Easier for Your Stomach: Chew Each bite 20 Times!”, I wrote about how important it is to chew well. You mix your food with saliva and that saliva is an important part of digesting your food. If you drink while eating, your mouth needs to produce less saliva. This makes digestion more difficult because saliva produces the enzyme amylase (see article 20), which pre-digests food for your stomach.

In addition, when you mix food with beverages, you have the idea more quickly that you can swallow, because it is moist. And that’s the problem: you are thinning your food with beverages and not with saliva! What a shame! By doing this, you digest your food less efficiently. This means that much of the food you eat disappears into the toilet, undigested. It’s too bad about your food because you miss vitamins and minerals this way! And you need them for more energy and better concentration! And, if you are concerned about the world, it’s a shame about your money and the farmer’s work, the grower, the truck driver, the supermarket coworker, the cashier and your time doing groceries. But I’m getting off track….

You are making your food too basic

If you mix your food with beverages, you’ve got another problem. You are making your food too basic. To digest food well, your stomach needs a pH of about 2.0. This means that your stomach acid has to be really acidic to do its job well. If you add beverages to your food, you decrease the acidity of your stomach acid; it becomes more basic and doesn’t work properly. This is especially the case if you drink milk, tea or water. Don’t! Let the stomach do its job by itself!

Heartburn

And wine with a meal is not a good idea, says professor of neuro-gastroenterology and motor function Dr. André Smout van het AMC (Academic Medical Center of Amsterdam, Netherlands). His research has shown that you are more likely to have problems with heartburn when you drink alcohol with your meals. Alcohol causes your esophageal sphincter muscle to relax. Your what? Your esophageal sphincter muscle. This is the barrier between your esophagus and your stomach, and can be compared to a thick piece of elastic. When you drink alcohol, this muscle relaxes and opens too easily, allowing stomach acid to flow back into your esophagus, which causes heartburn. Painful! A glass of wine increases the chances of heartburn.

What is heartburn exactly?

Between the esophagus and the stomach is a muscle, which can squeeze together like a ring. Sometimes that muscle doesn’t work properly. It’s open too long and too often, allowing acidic stomach fluids to flow back into your esophagus. This can cause problems such as a painful, burning feeling behind your sternum (breast bone), an irritated throat, the feeling of having something in your throat and belching. Doctors call this affliction “acid indigestion”, but is better known as “heartburn”. If this condition continues for a long time, the irritation can cause damage to the esophagus. To my great pleasure, I’ve already received reports from people who are no longer bothered by this condition, thanks to the help of the MIR-Method.

Eat without drinking? A challenge!

It’s quite a challenge to eat without drinking anything. Especially if you’re already somewhat dehydrated. There is only one solution. Drink a glass of water no later than a half hour before eating. When you begin to cook, for example, or just before you get ready to go home. A goodbye glass. Cheers, colleagues, it was my pleasure working with you again! And then empty the glass – of water! When your body is sufficiently hydrated, it’s possible to produce enough saliva while eating that you can chew your bites well, make them moist and do your stomach a favor. Do you already hear your stomach rejoicing? 

Are you going to try it? Or are you already doing it? I’d love to hear about it from you! Please write about it below. Thank you!

I sincerely hope that you will try it out and my wish is that you have more energy and improved bowel movements!
Greetings, Mireille Mettes

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P.S. Are you not yet familiar with the MIR-Method? Please go to the homepage: www.mirmethod.com. You can watch the video there and also the instruction video. Register on the homepage to receive the newsletter and 6 weeks of coaching e-mails for extra support!