For most of us, studying the metabolism of our food is a very complicated process and one we have no desire to learn more of. But what we do want to know is how can we best metabolize the foods we eat, most efficiently and productively.

In our search for that perfect diet, one that will help us lose those kilograms we are forever trying to lose, we neglect what can be a fairly simple but yet, crucially important factor in helping us to metabolize our food efficiently and ultimately lose weight. It’s our relationship with food.

Undeniably, how each of us thinks about eating is so profoundly relative that if a group of us were looking at the same plate of food, no two people would see and experience the plate of food or metabolize it the same way.

Let’s take a bowl of freshly cooked steaming pasta. Someone trying to lose weight would regard the bowl as forbidden, full of carbohydrates and fat and a definite no! An athlete, on the other hand, trying to carbo load before a race, would view the pasta with relish and see that pasta as a source of energy. That same bowl of pasta will be metabolized completely differently by those two people, in response to the kind of thoughts, each one of those people was having in their head.

What I am saying is that what you think and feel about a food can be as important a determinant of its nutritional value and its effect on body weight as the actual nutrients themselves. Interesting isn’t it?

That same bowl of pasta will be metabolized completely differently by those two people, in response to the kind of thoughts, each one of those people was having in their head.

When we sit down to eat a meal, the kind of thoughts and feelings we have impact greatly on how our meal will be metabolized, processed and assimilated.

When we feel negative emotions, bring judgement and a low sense of self to the table, our ability to efficiently digest and assimilate the meal is severely compromised.

So, if we have a dysfunctional emotional metabolism, we are unable to adequately process, neutralize and discard the toxic thoughts and emotions, and ultimately food. We are also more susceptible to being triggered, unfulfilled and judgemental of ourselves.

Next time you sit down to have a meal, how about taking a couple of slow deep breaths to try and stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system to be at the table with you. This calm state will enable better nutrient absorption and metabolism of your meal. When you are feeling calmer, and more relaxed you tend to eat for nourishment and you will choose food that will nourish you. You will notice that you will be satisfied with less food. You will feel more in touch with satiety and you are able to down-regulate that urge to overeat.

Learning to understand your relationship between your mind and your body and how it influences food, hunger and weight is transformative and liberating.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons