What the heck is that?
Before I explain what cephalic phase digestive response (CPDR), I want to let you know that the digestion shown in the photo below is only the physical aspect and accounts for only 60-70% of digestion. If you only rely on the physical aspect of digestion you will eliminate important nutrients as waste instead of absorbing them. This is one aspect I cover in more detail in my Mindful Nourishment Workshop.
If you think you are functioning fine on your current digestion, just image if you could increase your digestion by 30-40% by making sure you get the CPDR at every meal.
The cephalic phase digestive response is the mental phase of digestion and starts before you ever put a bite of food into your mouth. It is the way smell, see, hear, or image the food you are going to eat.
I’ll give you an example to make it easier to understand. Can you remember a time when you were actually salivating before you ate a meal? One of my fondest memories of my grandma is her cherry cheesecake. Every time I went back to the US she would make me and my brother a cherry cheesecake each. Even though lunch or dinner was always filling I made room for the cheesecake. My mouth was full of saliva just thinking about eating it. I literally can image the taste right now as I’m writing this.
This is the mental part of digestion. To get this with each meal you need to become aware of what you are about to eat. To do this it is best to sit at a table away from any electronics and just enjoy the food, conversation, and time away from all the other hectic things keeping you busy. If you take your time eating and start adding more CPDR involved in the digestion of your food, it will go through the digestive tract slower allowing it to get broken down more and more nutrients will be absorbed.
Slower digestion not only allows you to take in more nutrients it can help stave off digestive upset, bowel disorders, lower immunity, and fatigue.
So, to get more out of your food and feel better without changing what you are eating, become more aware of what your food looks like and what it smells like before you even take a bite. Then take in the flavours and enjoy each bite while chewing it. Eating should be a celebration, not taken for granted by shovelling it in as fast as possible.
Get more out of your food, eat less, and feel more energy. You don’t even have to change what you are eating. Seems like an easy way to get some improvements in your health, which isn’t talked about by many people.
Leave a message in the comments on how you will get more CPDR in your life this week!
