The world of Tzu Chi January 2021 (Vol.130)

TZU CHI 130 55 Ng Hui Ling A nutritionist with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and a Master’s degree in Sports Science, who served at the Singapore Heart Foundation before becoming self-employed, providing dietary consultations to vegetarians and writing a nutrition column for a health magazine. intestine before being expelled. Any issues in any of these stages would cause discomfort. Gut discomfort can be severe, for instance gastric reflux patients would have their sleep, day-to-day life and work affected. Regular mealtimes, healthy digestive system To maintain a healthy digestive system, regular mealtime is vital. We should try to avoid leaving our stomach too hungry and then over-stuffing it with food. When it is mealtime, we should relax and sit down to eat. If we don’t eat, and leave the stomach empty for too long, any food taken in after that would cause bloating and discomfort; some might even experience stomach ache. Our health is very much related to our work, since working forms a huge part of our lives. People of certain occupations, like hairstylists and those who work in food and beverage industry, often find it hard to keep to regular mealtimes. When I visited my hairstylist and asked whether she had had her meal, she told me helplessly that, in her line of occupation, they could only manage regular breakfast mealtime, and their lunch and dinner times on workdays are very much decided by customers. Because of that, she has suffered gastric problem on and off. Too long a time in between meals is not good for our stomachs. To avoid over-starving, we can have snacks in between meals to fill our stomachs and replenish nutrients at the same time. For our digestive system, be it good or bad, it is best not to eat like a king for dinner. Unfortunately, in these modern days, many people like to unwind with friends after a long day of work over a huge scrumptious meal, before heading home for a hot shower and sleeping on full stomach. In fact, to maintain a good digestive system, we should avoid any food intake three to four hours before sleep, especially food with high fat content. Besides regular mealtime, it is also important to focus and chew our food slowly. When eating out, I have observed that many lone diners could not seem to focus on eating. Some would browse through Facebook while eating, and some would watch soap operas. Some families would sit at the same table but their minds wander aimlessly on different social media platforms. Whenever I saw such a scene, it would prompt my busybody mind to wonder whether these strangers had properly chewed their food before swallowing? I think, similar to fostering good human relationship, as long as we do not take a healthy digestive system for granted, we will not undermine it with unwise behaviours.