1. Optimize nutritional absorption. By chewing your food well, you give the food you’re consuming the chance to begin digestion in the mouth. While the teeth and jaw mechanically tear the food apart in the mouth, enzymes in the saliva are able to chemically break down the foods, specifically carbohydrates. This makes the food particles smaller and easier for the stomach to further process, and easier for the small intestine to absorb the nutrients as they pass through.

2. Kickstart Digestion. The simple act of chewing sends signals to the other parts of the digestive tract, telling it to “start the engines, the food is coming!” Chewing stimulates peristalsis, the involuntary muscular contractions that move the food through the tract, and revs up the pancreas to secrete the enzymes needed to further break down fats and proteins.

3. It’s good for your teeth. Next time the dentist says “no cavities, what’s your secret?” Be sure to tell them it’s because you chew your food! By taking the time to chew, your mouth will fill with saliva, which helps wash food particles from the mouth, preventing plaque build-up.

4. Enjoy and taste your food. You might find that once you start chewing properly, you’ll actually get to taste the food before it goes down the hatch. You might be surprised to find that some foods have rich, complex flavours that you never noticed before, or you could discover that some foods actually have a taste or texture that you just don’t like.

5. Destress and relax. Paying attention to your chewing will require focus. You may choose to count the number of times you chew per bite, or you may pay attention to the way you move the food in your mouth. However you do it though, will require you to focus and breathe. In this way, chewing becomes a form of meditation. You are no longer thinking about the 100 other things in your daily life that cause you stress, but instead, just the simple act of mastication.

So how hard can it be to mindfully chew your food? Well, I wanted to find out so I began my own chewing experiment where I discovered a few things that I think will be able to help everyone improve their chewing habits:

• Take smaller bites. Personally, I discovered that the bites I take are waaay too big. This leaves little-to-no room for the saliva to move in to do its job. As a result, it was necessary to swallow little bits of food just to make chewing more manageable and avoid choking, which unfortunately means that the pre-emptively swallowed food misses out on this important step of the digestive process.

• Sit down at a table. There’s much to be said about the simple act of sitting down to eat. It’s like by sitting at a table with only your plate and food in front of you, you’ve committed yourself to the task at hand. Eating while standing in the kitchen, driving in the car, or slumped on the couch will leave you open to other distractions, and possibly in poor posture which can inhibit digestion, instead of paying attention to the delicious, nourishing food you’re ingesting.

• Turn off electronics. All of these devices are distractions. If you’re eating with other people, this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect on a more human level, and have a conversation. Sharing meals with others can be a relaxing, enjoyable and almost spiritual experience.

• Slow down and breathe. Take a bite. Breathe. Try to chew slowly, and steadily, and avoid taking another bite until you have finished chewing, and have swallowed the bite already in your mouth. We should also limit our fluid intake while eating, as to not dilute stomach acids, so avoid trying to wash down big mouthfuls with a beverage.

We don’t all have to be “Great Masticators” like Horace Fletcher, but the simple mindful act of chewing can potentially bring you a world of nutritional benefits. Or in the words of Horace, “Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate.”

Have you ever considered how you chew? Next time you take a bite, count to see how many times you chew. Then on the next bite, see if you can add 5 more chews. Let me know in the comments what your highest number is!