Hi Upekkha793 and Klara!
Here's some more information on the benefits of thorough chewing of your food from
About Macrobiotics by Vikki Sky:
"Chewing
The finer points of food combining and its preparation based on the yin/yang principle is perceived to be very important in practising macrobiotics but in actuality it not as important as thorough chewing, the most important macrobiotic tenet. How we eat is just as important as what we eat.
Macrobiotics teaches us that chewing well is a primary factor in health and transformation. Thorough chewing means chewing each mouthful at least 50 times (ideally 100 times) for physical, emotional, mental health as well spiritual progress. There are many macrobiotic gurus who conduct half-fasting retreats around the world based on chewing each mouthful 200 times. These retreats are very popular and successful, as people experience dynamic healing shifts, as well as states of bliss. They also report tangible improvement in serious ‘conditions’, such as asthma, structural/muscular back ailments and even cancer. This is due partly to the fact that thorough chewing activates the entire endocrine gland system and promotes rejuvenation.
Power Eating Program
Lino Stanchich, a macrobiotic expert, has developed PEP (Power Eating Program) as a result of a discovery his father, Antonio Stanchich, made during his imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943. Antonio survived the harsh conditions by chewing his food and water 50 - 75 times per mouthful. He found that this amount of chewing gave him extra energy and he was able to withstand the cold. He increased it to 100 - 150 times for dinner as he had more time and found that he did not get sick like the others. He taught this technique to two of his fellow prisoners. After two years in the concentration camp, the prisoners were liberated. Of the 32 that were originally imprisoned with Antonio’s ship crew, only three survived: Antonio and his two friends, whom he taught his chewing technique.
The basics of PEP are that we should be conscious whilst chewing. Eating in silence, preferably with eyes closed, allows us to go within ourselves and observe a sacred, meditative and spiritual experience. In his PEP seminars, Lino teaches an ideal position whilst chewing. Sitting with our back straight, both feet touching each other and the hands are interlocked into a mudra, where all the fingers of our left hand are touching all the fingers of our right hand. This position relaxes the shoulders and calms the mind. Also, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lung meridian flows through the thumbs and when we connect our thumbs we complete a circuit that strengthens our lungs and our breath. In addition, the large intestine meridian flows through the index fingers. Energy from the lungs goes to the large intestine, affecting our entire digestive tract. When the feet touch each other, and one hand touches the other hand, the energy circulates throughout the body. When such a posture is adopted while eating a powerful energy cycle is formed. Therefore, two or three times a day, the art of eating and the art of meditating can merge into one spiritual practice. Moreover, PEP facilitates greater satisfaction, as well as a state of bliss, for a number of biological reasons, discussed below. PEP is such a powerful technique that hundreds of people around the world have attributed it to healing not only serious conditions but cultivating a more harmonious and spiritual existence.
The Hunza people of the Himalayas are known for their longevity, as well as their practice of chewing. Dr. Tommozaburo Ogata, a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, has conducted extensive research on rejuvenation. Ogata discovered that thorough chewing revitalises the body because it activates the parotid glands, located behind each ear, which releases parotin. Chewing well causes the parotin to be absorbed through the lymph system. The hormone renews cells and positively affects the entire endocrine system.
The more we chew, the more we stimulate our vertebral column. There are 32 teeth and 32 vertebrae. Added together, this makes 64, which is also the number of hexagrams in the I Ching. As a result of more chewing, the whole nervous system is positively stimulated. This chewing pressure strongly activates the circulatory system, as well, due to the muscular activity in moving the jawbone.
The more we chew, the more blood is drawn to the muscles. There are 15 pairs of muscles attached to the jaw and three major systems (digestive, nervous, and circulatory) are greatly enhanced by thorough chewing. Blood contains iron and has magnetic properties, resulting in a current of energy going from hinge muscle to hinge muscle, around and through our heads. Three meridians - the stomach, small and large intestine - all cross the jaw and are also stimulated as a result of chewing.
Heaven and earth
Positive yang energy from the heavens spirals down through the centre of the head and hits the uvula (the piece of skin hanging from the roof of the mouth). From the earth, through our feet the negative yin energy spirals up and collects in the tongue. This energy between the Earth's force coming up and the Heaven's force going down culminates at the tongue. By chewing food until it becomes liquid we harness these energies from Heaven and Earth at the tongue, which energises our food. This energy then circulates between the ears. At this meeting point, right in the middle of the head, is the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland picks up this charged energy and is stimulated to release the hormones that control all of the functions of the thyroid, pancreas, adrenal cortex, and sex organs.
The more we chew, the more the food is mixed with saliva. Saliva has antimicrobial properties. Streptococcus, staphylococcus, and the AIDS virus can't live in saliva. The salivary glands produce enzymes that begin digesting carbohydrates in the mouth. Ptyalin is an active, digestive enzyme produced by the parotid glands, which breaks down carbohydrates and converts it into glucose. The stomach cannot do this by itself. Ptyalin also stimulates the tonsils to send a signal to the thymus to produce more natural killer T cells. Noboru Muramoto discovered this 12 years ago in Japan, where his studies revealed that the more we chew, the more the ptyalin stimulates the tonsils to send a signal to the thymus to produce a mature, stronger, killer T cell. Even if we had our tonsils removed, vertebrae stimulation by thorough chewing activates the immune system. Each vertebra has a direct influence on various organs and glands – a fact well known to chiropractors.
Some of the benefits of thorough chewing include: improved digestion; more energy and endurance; faster healing; stimulating the whole endocrine system and glands, eliminating more toxins; promoting deeper relaxation; cultivating patience, self-control, and spiritual awareness - even bliss. This occurs because the heaven and earth energies meet in our mouths while we chew – the downward yang energy on the uvula, meeting with the earth’s expanding yin energy at the tongue. As food is chewed, the uvula and the tongue charge the food and an energic transformation takes place. The more we chew, the more this energy circulates in our head and stimulates the hypothalamus (the master gland) which stimulates the pituitary gland to release more hormones that rejuvenate and positively influence our entire body. The processes of digestion and assimilation continues further on mental, emotional and spiritual levels, as the energy of the food is released into its finer vibrations, known as vipak in Ayurveda, thus creating our moods and influencing our mental states.
Thorough chewing, as taught in PEP, promotes a feeling of bliss due to the fact that the brain receives about 20 percent more oxygen. Making PEP a regular practice will yield a number of benefits, such as increased intelligence, improved memory functions, and increased self-awareness. With more self-awareness we are able to observe and detach ourselves from certain events/emotions and allow a shift of consciousness to occur within us. Maybe this is another reason why PEP helps to heal serious health conditions, because no permanent healing can occur without a shift of consciousness.
The rate at which we chew our food is also important and affects the energy in our entire body. If we chew quickly, we become more active and, if one is slow and lethargic, consciously speeding one’s chewing pattern will revitalise the metabolism and promote vigour and vitality.
Macrobiotics is about understanding our own conditions - based on yin/yang philosophy - and being creative with our food choices and its preparation within the basic macrobiotic guidelines. What we eat and most importantly how we eat, as detailed in PEP, produces an overall wellbeing and fosters a more spiritual connection to our environment as well as other people. No textbook can prescribe for these unique sets of circumstances. Rather, macrobiotics teaches us to make our own choices, based on our own unique conditions of yin/yang in our mind-body system and learn from these experiences.
Macrobiotics is about having the wisdom of the food/mind/body/spirit connection and using it appropriately for our individual conditions. In macrobiotics serious conditions can be healed through food (as long as we chew it thoroughly), since food is a living vibration. When practising macrobiotics and PEP, the body will appreciate food more and seek a balance. It is an understanding gained not via the intellectual mind but via the body’s own experience. This experience not only empowers us but also ultimately connects us with our spiritual essence. In essence, macrobiotics and PEP facilitates healing on all levels and fosters a spiritual connection to all life."
Get the PEP (Power Eating Program) by Lino Stanchich at
G.O.M.F.
Be well, be your best, and be blessed!
Thank you, very much.
Bruce Paine