Diabetes is THE condition we are constantly fighting against. Preventing diabetes is completely within your control. But for some changes are too hard. Not true.
Exercise hard 7 days a week. Meditate 5 times per day. Eat tofu (non-GMO) and rice. Drink 8 cups of green tea daily steeped for 4 minutes at 96 degrees Celcius in water dripped off the melting snows of the Himalayas in Tibet.
Who’s got the time for all that stuff?
In today’s time crunched, digital age where the average salaried employee is milked out of some 50-60 hours / week fitting in the things we need to do to stay healthy seems daunting. The reality is that you can ALL make time–if I can spend 1+ hour on each of these blog posts 5-6 days per week on top of writing a book, ebooks and running a practice, I think everyone can find the time to eat right and exercise.
Let’s say you’ve rationalized to yourself that you absolutely can’t do any of the right things for your health right now.
How about this?
Slow down when you eat.
Not exactly life changing advice, huh?
According to this particular study, it might be. Researchers looked at Japanese middle aged men and asked them about their eating speed–slow, medium or fast. Here’s what they found:
- Obesity rates went up as speed of eating increased (58% higher risk in slow vs fast eaters).
- Medium speed eaters were 68% more likely to develop diabetes in the next 7 years.
- Fast eaters were 97% more likely to develop diabetes.
This makes sense. We have seen studies where merely chewing more had a pretty dramatic effect on how our bodies used the foods we eat. This was also seen with single food items like almonds.
Here’s something else to consider. Food is a celebration of life. It is the centerpiece of family gatherings and quiet times with people you choose to spend time with. It can be the enjoyment of a fantastic meal, savoring every bite.
Eckhart Tolle, the famed author of The Power of Now, talks about the first steps to get you used to living in the now. It’s about savoring the process of eating and enjoying and savoring the tastes of the foods you eat.
You can’t do this wolfing down a Big Mac in between sales meetings.
So, slow down and enjoy your meal. Your body will thank you for this simple change.