Why Chewing Your Food Is Important

While researching the effects of chewing gum I came across a lot of articles on chewing your food in general. And it shocked me to find out that most of us do not chew our food nearly enough. How to chew our food is not something that is taught to us, and it turns out most of us aren’t doing it very well.

Why Chewing Your Food Is Important

The stats

• The average person chews their food 6 times per bite.
• The recommendations vary, but on average it is recommended that you should chew each bite of food in the range of 20-30 times.
• I did a little experiment and this is quite true. I was only chewing my food between 4-7 times depending on the size of the bite. That is less than half the amount recommended! Next time you are eating, count how many times you chew a piece of food?! I think you will be amazed at how little it actually is. We are quite literally inhaling our food.

Sometimes, especially when I am really busy or under stress I gormandize my food. I take about 4 bites, trying to eat as quickly as possible because I have better things to do. In these cases I am not enjoying the food, I am simply checking it off my to do list. This is a terrible habit to get into, and can lead to eating more than you intend, because you are not really cognisant of what you are doing at that moment.

Gormandize: (v) to eat greedily and ravenously.

Why is chewing your food so important?
Basically, the digestive process begins in your mouth. If you want to digest your food well, and put less burden on your stomach it’s important to properly chew your food. My sister, a highschool biology teacher would probably explain this much better, but here goes.

A simplified explanation of the digestive process of chewing:

• As food is chewed, saliva mixes with the food. Saliva is a watery substance that contains mucus that moistens the food and buffers the PH balance.
• Saliva contains an enzyme called amylase that begins the process of converting starches into a disaccharide called maltose. Another enzyme lipase also begins breaking down fat.
• The chewing and wetting action provided by the teeth and saliva shape food into a mass called a bolus for swallowing.
• The tongue moves the bolus from the mouth to the pharynx, which opens and allows the food to pass down the esophagus.
  Source: Boundless Biology, www.boundlessbiology.com

So what are some benefits to chewing your food thoroughly?

• Aids in the proper transport of nutrients in your body.
• Helps start the important digestive process which is important to being healthy.
• You are more than likely to not eat as much by eating thoroughly. When you are eating slower, your brain can tell you that you are full, causing you to eat less.
• Helps to prevent the heavy feeling that sometimes follows a meal.

What are some of the side effects of not chewing thoroughly?

• Poorly digested food means poor absorption of the vitamins and nutrients that the foods you are eating provide.
• Indigestion or heartburn.
• Excess gas.
• IBS and other digestive discomforts from over working the other stages of the digestion process.

It’s a pretty simple way to help you obtain the most nutrients from the food you eat.