When it comes to increased health, it’s not just what we eat but how we eat. Digestion actually begins in the mouth, where contact with our teeth and digestive enzymes in our saliva break down food. But these days most of us rush through the whole eating experience, barely acknowledging what we’re putting in our mouths.

We eat while distracted—working, reading, talking and watching television—and swallow our food practically whole. On average we chew each bite only eight times. It’s no wonder that many people have digestive problems.

4 Reasons to Chew Your Food More

1. Your saliva is your friend

Saliva breaks down food into simple sugars, creating a sweet taste. The more we chew, the sweeter our food becomes, so we don’t crave those after-meal sweets. You have three pairs of saliva glands in your mouth, and they each produce a different kind of saliva. The body knows how much saliva to produce, and what kind. That’s why your saliva glands will produce much more saliva when you eat a dry cracker than when you eat a juicy piece of fruit!

2. Easier digestion

Chewing reduces digestive distress and improves assimilation, allowing our bodies to absorb maximum nutrition from each bite of food. The power of chewing is so great that there are stories of concentration camp survivors who, when others could not, made it through with very little food by chewing their meager rations up to 300 times per bite of food. For most of us 300 chews is a daunting and unrealistic goal. However, you can experience the benefits of chewing by increasing to just 30 chews per bite. Proper chewing will help make sure your body is digesting your food the best way it can.

3. Healthy mind and body

More chewing produces more endorphins—the brain chemicals responsible for creating good feelings. It’s also helpful for weight loss, because when we are chewing well, we are more apt to notice when we are full. Chewing can even promote increased circulation, enhanced immunity, increased energy and endurance, as well as improve skin health. Poorly digested food means poor absorption of the vitamins and nutrients that the foods you are eating provide.!

4. Enjoy your meal

Taking time with a meal, beginning with chewing, allows for enjoyment of the whole experience of eating: the smells, flavors and textures. It helps us to give thanks, to show appreciation for the abundance in our lives and to develop patience and self-control.

Try eating without the TV, computer, Blackberry, newspaper or noisy company. Instead, just pay attention to the food and to how you are breathing and chewing. This kind of quiet can be disconcerting at first, since we are used to a steady stream of advertising, news, media, email and demands from others. But as you create a new habit, you will begin to appreciate eating without rushing. You have to eat every day—why not learn to savor and enjoy it?