chewing your food

hippiechel

i used to eat really.. slowly.. as a child. but as i grew older, i started eating faster and faster, mostly due to time scheduling issues. so now, whether i have extra time or otherwise, i still eat pretty quickly. i don't really chew my food before swallowing. usually about 5 chews, 10 at best if i am more conscious about it.

what are the negative consequences of chewing so little? what are the benefits of chewing my food more besides having more time for my stomach to register that it's full? some times i do take longer to eat by pausing between bites and stuff, but i still don't like to chew my food.

truth be told, even when i consciously try to chew my food more, the taste of the food becomes nasty to me and i start to gag a little. any one has this problem or know why this is? any solutions?

NoAdditives

You need to chew your food enough to make it easy to swallow, you don't have to chew it into a paste. Rushing through your food does mean it takes longer, or more food, before you realize you're full.

Mamaheatherhg

The reason you need to slow up on chewing is it's better for your digestive system.

jessieinblue

You need to chew your food enough to make it easy to swallow, you don't have to chew it into a paste. Rushing through your food does mean it takes longer, or more food, before you realize you're full.

True. Also, you actually need to thoroughly chew whole grains before swallowing them. This will allow your body to proper digest them and use all the nutrients.

AmeMahoney

Buddhist monks suggest chewing your food at least 25 times. Some say 50.

Anidorie

take smaller bites so that when you chew it five time sor so, it is fully chewed.

stanvoodoo

According to a Kaiser Educational Class I took, it is a big difference. One is how well the food is absorbed and eatly slowly gives time for your head to get the message that you are full. 20 - 30 bites is I think what they recommended.

someday120

if you can only manage 5 chews then take a smaller bite to even it out

tsez

the more you chew your food, the more surface area you create for the digestive enzymes to adhere to, this begins the process of digestion as the food heads down the esophogus to the stomach, where other more agressive agents will further breakdown your food, the more surface area you create will allow for your food to digest more efficiently, not necessarily faster as foods high in fat take a while to be emulsified

hippiechel

thanks for all the ideas! i will start doing these two things now:

1. to chew 20-30 times a bite or so
2. to take smaller bites

this will probably help me feel less bloated too, i feel!

how long does it take for you guys to finish 1 meal? 15 minutes? 20? 30?

i take literally less than 5 minutes to eat my cereal in the morning because i am so afraid of it getting soggy. i think partly why i eat fast during other meals too is because i hate it when my hot food cools. but i guess if i do eat slowly and the rest of the food cools, then i will definitely eat less that way. i am so weird with my eating, i know.

mentalbeat

Digestion starts in the mouth with the chewing of food, the enzymes in saliva mix with the food and as it passes further through the system food is broken down better and absorbed better. Chewing also send messages to other parts of the gastro-intestinal system to release other enzymes and acids, to further aid digestion. Digestion itself uses a lot of energy so chewing food properly helps the body to get maximum use of the nutrients in food providing necessary energy. Badly chewed food is harder to digest making the gut work harder, but getting less energy from food. This can slow down the digestion process causing bloating and indegestion.
I chew every mothful 32 times except yoghurt which only gets 5-10.
Hope this helps.

AndyBee

Thanks for all the information. I never really gave this issue any thought. I always chow down quickly, sometimes I don't think I really chew at all lol. Yep, I need to change this.

hippiechel

I chew every mothful 32 times except yoghurt which only gets 5-10.
Hope this helps.

i've heard of people "chewing" soup before too. how exactly are you chewing the yogurt? do you kind of just.. mash it around your mouth? i don't mean to sound daft, i am just trying to imagine it because i'm more of a slurp-it-down eater currently.

AndyBee

Um... chew soup and yogurt? How in the world?

Anidorie

yeah i gacnt chew it either. you gurt is like pudding, you dont chew it. do you chew your water?