Healthy gut flora and a healthy biotope can benefit the body in countless ways. They promote digestion, support energy levels and even influence our personality.

Gut health tips are all the rage among Gen Z and social media millennials, who regularly discuss how to alleviate chronic stomach pain with nutrient-rich, plant-based meals and drinks.

However, one expert suggests that How What we eat may be just as important as what we eat.

Megan Rossi, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, told HuffPost that the better we chew our food, the better it is for us.

“It really just comes down to digestion,” she told the outlet this week. “Not only do we physically start to break down food in our mouth, but we have enzymes in our saliva that start to chemically break it down.”

If you don’t chew properly, your food will consist of large, undigested pieces. This can lead to symptoms such as diarrhea, gas, bloating, constipation and abdominal pain.

By chewing more often, we not only improve digestion, but we also extract more nutrients from our food, which is good for our intestines.

Rossi explains: “One study looked at almonds and they compared people who chewed the almonds 10 times with people who chewed them 40 times. They showed that if you chew them 40 times, you actually absorb a lot more of that good nutrition… So chewing your food is really important to extract a lot of that nutrition instead of pooping it out.”

According to experts, a slow, deliberate meal is also good for weight loss. It helps people recognize when they are full and prevents overeating.

Being aware of the food in your mouth forces you to eat more mindfully. This is essential to truly enjoy it, and to know when you have had enough.

How do you chew then?

Rossi noted that there are several apps that help people chew more mindfully, but her approach focuses on mindset.

“What I tell a lot of my clients in the clinic is, just focus on the first two bites of every meal,” she told HuffPost. “You’re never going to chew 30 times on every bite, but just focus on the first two, and that builds the habit.”

Rossi said that just three extra chews can lay the foundation for better habits.

“Next time, count – literally count how many times you chew (your bite of food) – and then add three more times,” she said.

“And then, every meal, just focus on the first two bites with those extra three (chews),” Rossi continued. “And then if you can add an extra one or two chews every couple of weeks, then after six months you’ve got a pretty good number of chews.”