Monday, June 2, 2014

Fascinating Facts to Chew on for Awhile

Remember that saying, “Be sure to chew your food 32 times” ?

Have you ever tried to do that?  We recently tried doing that in our house. The after dinner walk that my husband and I usually take has now become a walk in the moonlight.  At first it seemed to take way too much time to do this extra chewing, but here are some fascinating facts about our GI tracts, begging us to extend our time at the table.  With busy schedules that so many people have today, this can be a challenging task, but the benefits for increasing good health might be worth the efforts!

So here’s some fascinating morsels of info....
--Each time you chew, as you move your jaw, the parotid salivary gland (which is in front of the ear in the upper jaw) secretes enzymes to start breaking down food, but it also secretes a hormone called parotin.  

--The parotin stimulates the thymus gland to produce T-cells.

--And the T-cells are the wonderful cells that boost our immune system. So just by chewing those bites of food extra times, we strengthen our immune system!! Plus we send food down the hatch that is so much easier for our stomachs to digest since our teeth have well prepared it for the journey.

There is an amazing story about a man named Antonio Stanchich who was a prisoner in a concentration camp during WW II.  Many people died of starvation but he and 2 others out of a group of 32 men remained alive.  It is believed that they survived because they chewed their food so well!

You may find that eating raw vegetables offers the opportunity to chew many times!

Happy chewing!
Blessings,
Martha

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