Why does food need to be chewed for a long time? Chewing food thoroughly is the cheapest way to lose weight. How long to chew food? When should you swallow food rather than chew it?

The quality of the products consumed is certainly important. The culture of its consumption also plays a huge role. If you are in the habit of snacking during minute breaks or in parallel with your work, having lunch in front of the TV, or eating too quickly, you can significantly harm yourself. Moreover, it is interesting that harm is caused not only to the gastrointestinal tract, but also to the cardiovascular system. Poor chewing of food can turn food into poison, weakens the liver and even affects blood pressure levels. But how does poor chewing relate to hypertension?

How food is digested

The entire process of converting food into nutrition for the body's cells begins with the oral cavity. Saliva serves to form a bolus of food, as well as to begin the breakdown of complex carbohydrates into simple ones. Enzymes seem to “disassemble” a large carbohydrate chain into short links.

After turning into a lump, the food passes into the stomach and is treated with hydrochloric acid and pepsin. They are necessary for the breakdown of protein into simple amino acid chains. Bile and enzyme-rich pancreatic juice in the duodenum convert large fat molecules into fatty acids, which become available for absorption. The small intestine is the site of absorption of substances broken down into the simplest molecules from the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream.

Before delivering them to each cell, the body checks the safety of the incoming components with the help of the liver. Substances “allowed” by the liver are sent through the circulatory system and used for internal synthetic processes.

Amino acids will be used to build muscle tissue, enzymes and hormones. Carbohydrates will remain in the form of energy reserves or will be used to provide the body with essential energy.

As a result of the oxidation of carbohydrates, endogenous water and carbon dioxide are formed. Water is necessary for chemical reactions in cells, and carbon dioxide regulates the most important functions of the body. Fatty acids will participate in the synthesis of lipoproteins and are actively used by cell membranes for their restoration and the formation of myelin sheaths of nerve fibers.

Vascular tone under control

The result of the oxidation of carbohydrates is carbon dioxide, which serves as a regulator of the degree of vasodilation. It naturally prevents vasoconstriction and eliminates capillary bed hypertension.

The degree of absorption of substances and the creation of the required concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood directly depends on how well the food is chewed.

This will control the development of hypertension and prevent pathological increases in pressure as a result of poor chewing and insufficient release of carbon dioxide during the utilization of carbohydrates. Having a constantly normal concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood means protecting yourself from pressure surges and the development of persistent hypertension and its dangerous complications.

Lack of time and opportunities

We are constantly in a hurry to eat in order to have time to do other things. When we are young, we are in a hurry to live and do not pay attention to every meal. After 50, we already have time, but we no longer have the opportunity to chew thoroughly with artificial teeth. In fact, in this way we are slowly but surely dooming ourselves to illness.

Poor chewing and swallowing in pieces lead to the fact that the digestion process becomes incomplete and even dangerous to health. It's all about disruption of digestion reactions. In the oral cavity, instead of being broken down into components, complex carbohydrates combine with a small amount of saliva and swell. They are not converted into simple carbohydrate chains, but form a specific mucus-like jelly. The lump is covered with this jelly and in the stomach hydrochloric acid cannot process it to process proteins into amino acids.

This mucus-like mass also covers the walls of the stomach and disrupts normal gastric digestion. As a consequence of this, proteins remain in their original undigested state, carbohydrates remain in the form of a thick mass. The lump enters the duodenum as densely as it enters the stomach. A significant portion of the acid is also thrown into it. It disrupts the alkaline environment of this section of the gastrointestinal tract necessary for digestion processes. The effect of bile and pancreatic juices in such conditions is fragmented.

This is due to the fact that such a lump of mucus is not susceptible to the action of enzymes, and the enzymes themselves do not work in a neutral environment. The secretion of digestive juices becomes difficult. Proteins in the colon begin to decompose, unabsorbed fats cause indigestion, and carbohydrates in the form of jelly disrupt normal peristalsis, cause constipation and support the growth of pathological microorganisms.

Violation of the normal ratio of “good” bacteria and aggressive microbes, fungi, provokes a deterioration in the absorption and synthesis of a number of vitamins, leads to a weakening of the immune system, and also creates conditions for the absorption of toxic products into the blood. As a result, we ourselves poison our body, and our blood vessels narrow due to the lack of carbon dioxide, which we should have received during normal digestion.

Chewing experiment

To make it easier to understand the importance of proper chewing, it’s worth conducting a basic experiment. It consists of chewing a piece of black bread for a long time. Its initial taste is sour without sweetness. As you gradually chew and mix with saliva, a piece of this bread will begin to develop an increasingly sweeter taste.

It's all about the breakdown of carbohydrates, which, with their original chemical structure, do not have a sweet taste. Simple carbohydrates, which appear when complex carbohydrate molecules are converted by saliva, give the product its sweetness. But this does not happen immediately, but only after an intensive chewing process.

Similarly, in any other product, the initial destruction of the primary structure of complex carbohydrates by saliva occurs, but not so clearly. It is worth remembering that for the sake of our health, we are simply obliged to allow food to go through this initial stage of processing with saliva and the mechanical action of the teeth in order to prevent serious health consequences.

The Most Important Health Habit

It is necessary to develop the habit of proper food consumption as early as possible:

Eating food must take enough time for normal chewing of each piece.
Eating should always be done in a pleasant atmosphere, without worries and stress, or extraneous unnecessary thoughts.
Solid food should become as liquid as possible already in the oral cavity. Interestingly, liquid food also needs to be chewed to give enough time for saliva to be released and to allow it to mix evenly with it.

One minute in the oral cavity with thorough chewing is enough for a piece of food to make it available for further processing by gastrointestinal enzymes. During this time, it is necessary to make more than 30 chewing movements.

Only with this attitude towards food intake will carbohydrates be fully digested and provide the body with the necessary energy, water for the cells, and carbon dioxide for the blood vessels, which is indispensable for their normal tone.

A bonus with such long chewing can be considered quick satiety, which will prevent overeating and weight gain. Keeping food in the mouth for a long time allows you to more fully experience the full taste of the product and make the meal as enjoyable as possible.

If you are unable to chew properly due to dental problems, it is necessary to treat and restore them. This will give you a life without pain and will significantly improve the condition of the oral cavity and the entire gastrointestinal tract.

Yes, we are not used to long sittings at the table and such difficulties with chewing pieces minute by minute. But in fact, the habit of eating slowly is developed quite quickly and is not so unpleasant. You just need to control yourself a little at first and make each meal unhurried with careful attention to the consumption of each piece or spoon of the product.

It will take about 21 days to form a habit, and then the body will automatically chew food thoroughly. This will definitely make health stronger, blood pressure more stable, and a person much happier.

Or unusual. Or nothing will happen at all. In general, we can say that after swallowing one piece of gum, you should not expect any terrible consequences. Chewing gum simply passes through the gastrointestinal tract and leaves it naturally.

Its journey begins in the mouth, where it is chewed long and hard with the teeth, constantly being washed by the saliva produced in the process. This can last several minutes, hours, and for some particularly persistent people, even days. Once swallowed, the chewing gum enters the esophagus, which moves it towards the stomach in wave-like movements.

Once in the stomach, it is immediately attacked by gastric juice, which is a concentrated solution of acid. The juice will try to dissolve the gum, but it will not succeed.

Almost unharmed, it will continue its path through the intestinal tract. Since there are no useful substances in it, the body will envelop it in mush and send it to the exit, like unnecessary ballast.

But even in such a simple scenario, glitches can occur.

In both young children and adults, swallowing gum can lead to aspiration - the entry of parts of the gum into the respiratory tract. This is quite likely if you give menthol chewing gum to a small child who, frightened by the strong taste, swallows a pad or plate that has not yet been properly chewed.

Digestion: why is it so important to chew properly?

Digestive problems are the lot of many unfortunate people nowadays. Flatulence, constipation, diarrhea literally poison life. Anyone who does not have such problems will never understand a patient with digestive disorders. But he experiences pain, discomfort, and irritability, which ultimately lead to depression.

People with weak intestinal motility are bothered by a feeling of fullness, colic, and abdominal cramps. All this is superimposed on the unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling associated with the retention of gases or their excessive release. To healthy people this seems ridiculous, but to those who have encountered and have been confronted with these manifestations of intestinal illness for a long time, it is no laughing matter.

Digestive problems are associated with many diseases: ulcers, gastritis, cholecystitis, hepatitis, cholelithiasis, pancreatitis, dysbiosis, intestinal infections, tumors. Whatever illness “takes over” the body, its consequences will negatively affect the metabolism and functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. People with such diseases should always monitor their diet. They simply must maintain a diet, eat regularly and variedly, eat only natural products in the right combination and, of course, support the body with the necessary medications. But there is one more important point.

The fact is that the digestive process is a multi-stage process. It begins with an important moment - chewing food. Do not be surprised! GlavRecipe.Ru found out that the further course of the digestion process often depends on how well you chewed your food.

What happens in the mouth?

When we remember a dish or inhale the delicious and aromatic smell of food, saliva is produced in the mouth. This means that the digestive process has already begun. The initial stage of food processing takes place in the mouth. The food takes the form of a food bolus.

A food bolus is food that has been lightly processed in the mouth. It enters the oral cavity, is crushed and moistened with saliva, subjected to mild chemical action. This is possible because saliva contains a small amount of enzymes and has weak antibacterial properties. The primary task of the oral cavity is to thoroughly grind food so that it can then move freely through the digestive tract and be processed on all sides by enzymes.

Processing food in the mouth rests on the main stage - chewing. That's why it's so important. At no other stage of digestion will there be similar processing of the food bolus. If you haven't chewed your food well, neither your stomach nor your intestines will do it for you. In them, a lump of food is exposed only to acids and enzymes. There is no question of mechanical processing of food. The digestive system can do little more than crush bolus food and turn it over.

If you chew poorly, you will get problems.

Many people swallow large pieces; it seems to them that nothing bad is happening. This is not so: the esophagus, stomach, and intestines suffer. They have to “sweat” a lot to push the piece into subsequent sections and grind it with the help of digestive juices. The body will try to correct your “under-chewed” mistake.

Hastily swallowed pieces are like lumps. The larger they are, the worse the digestive tract. Gastric juice and enzymes have difficulty penetrating into the depths of food pieces. And this is fraught with unpleasant consequences.

Injury to the esophagus. Large unchewed pieces first enter the esophagus. They can easily injure him. This development of events will worsen your condition and turn eating food into a painful process.
Lack of nutrients. A large piece of food is difficult to enzymatically process, that is, not all of its components are processed and absorbed into the blood. The habit of grabbing food on the fly and swallowing it without chewing leads to a deficiency of many necessary compounds: iron, proteins, vitamins, etc.
Reproduction of bacteria. Not only does poor chewing of food threaten a deficiency state, it also promotes the proliferation of harmful bacteria. Countless hordes of microorganisms strive to enter our body along with food. Undoubtedly, the stomach kills uninvited guests with the help of hydrochloric acid, but not all of them. In the gastric compartment, food is digested from half an hour to an hour and a half, provided that it is thoroughly chewed. Small pieces are washed with an acidic composition and disinfected. They are transported safely to the next digestive stage. If large pieces are swallowed, the stomach does not have time to kill all the bacteria in the time allotted to it. Inside the food bolus, microorganisms will remain alive and unharmed. What happens next? Pieces with armies of bacteria enter the intestines, in conditions favorable for their reproduction. There they grow in numbers and cause intestinal infections and dysbacteriosis.

Chew and not worry

Chewing is an integral part of the digestive process, which has evolved over thousands of years. Our digestive system is designed to keep food in the mouth for a relatively long time. You chew a tasty piece, and at this time linguistic recipes evaluate the nature of the food, its taste. Having done this, they send the received data to the brain. The brain center processes information and “orders” the stomach, glands, and intestines to prepare for the arrival of food.

The digestive organs immediately begin to work hard in anticipation of the food mass. Food enters the stomach, where the acidic and enzymatic environment is already prepared. They process the swallowed piece and then send it to the intestines. The same thing happens in the intestines. It turns out that with proper chewing, the food bolus is completely processed. All nutrients are extracted from it to the fullest extent possible.

Now let’s describe the picture when you swallow pieces of food on the go without tasting it. In this case, the stomach will accept lumps that the tongue receptors have not yet recognized. Accordingly, no signals will be sent to the brain, and the digestive tract will not prepare for the arrival of food. The stomach, “taken aback” by such a rapid appearance, will begin to form an acid-enzyme environment that will not be able to effectively process food pieces. At this moment, the stomach will look like a hostess who suddenly has guests. It is unlikely that he will have time to properly digest the food. Some vitamins and other microelements will be missed.

If you eat on the go once or twice, it’s okay. It’s another matter if such an attitude towards the digestive process has become your habit. It is unacceptable to treat your own body carelessly!

Why do we chew poorly?

Chewing of “low quality” has several reasons: habit, diseases in the oral cavity, lack of teeth.

Most often you can find people who have made this attitude towards digestion a habit. They lead a dynamic lifestyle and do not want to be distracted and waste time on food. If you belong to this category of people, try to change your habits, force yourself to chew food slowly. Over time, you will learn to eat properly.

As for the second and third reasons, they are completely removable. It is clear that without molars it is difficult to chew food. The same thing happens if there is pain in the oral cavity due to disease of the gums and teeth. Contact your dentist and correct the situation, then you can eat properly and sleep peacefully.

Our digestion is a mechanism that sometimes malfunctions. Often we ourselves are to blame for this because we don’t watch what we eat and how we eat. Pay attention to the way you chew and maybe then a lot will open up to you. Take care of your health, because it should last you a lifetime!

Why food needs to be chewed thoroughly is an important question to which not everyone knows the answer.

Since childhood, many of us have been taught various things by our parents, and one of the most annoying pieces of advice was probably the advice to be more careful about how you eat.

People eat food quickly, without having time to enjoy either its taste or the process of satisfying hunger itself, since they are always late for something. However, the habit of chewing food thoroughly hides a lot of useful things, and everyone should know about it.

The benefits of chewing food thoroughly

Eating quickly and on the go is a bad habit!

Chewing food thoroughly hides a really large number of advantages, which, unfortunately, not everyone knows about.

The digestion process is a complex process consisting of several stages, each of which is responsible for a specific processing of the food consumed. The process of experiencing directly affects subsequent stages and is one of the main ones.

A person who is hungry and is about to eat, first of all, notices the smell of food and, as a result, the salivary glands begin to produce saliva in the mouth. This liquid contains many different enzymes and is also endowed with antibacterial properties.

In the process of eating food, the task of the oral cavity is precisely its thorough grinding, which allows the consumed food to freely move further along the digestive tract and be exposed to various enzymes that take part in the digestion process.

Chewing, the main stage of processing food by mouth, affects the digestive process as a whole, since at no other stage is food mechanically crushed.

Chewing food diligently also has a good effect on the condition of the oral cavity. This process loads the teeth, gums, and jaw muscles with work, which leads to an increase in the service life of the teeth, and also keeps the ligamentous apparatus of the jaws in good condition.

Thorough chewing allows you to more fully enjoy the process of eating food, leads to the fact that taste buds better analyze the properties of food and, by sending this information to the brain, contribute to the quality of digestion. This allows the brain to correctly assess the situation and release enough gastric juice and other enzymes, and less food will be needed to feel full. Back in the days of Ancient Greece, doctors noted the following advantages of thoroughly chewing food:

it relieves nervous tension and increases human performance
it contributes to the body’s effective fight against various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system
If food is chewed for a long time, then you can get more nutrients from it

Chewing food is the first step in the digestion process, and if done correctly, it promotes normal digestion, as well as a number of other beneficial things.

Chewing thoroughly and the digestive system

Well-chewed food is better absorbed

It is not surprising that thorough chewing has the greatest effect on the digestive system.

Food particles that are poorly chewed, especially if it is roughage, can cause damage to the walls of the digestive tract.

Conversely, food that has been chopped properly is well moistened with saliva, moves through the esophagus without problems, is digested faster and more efficiently, and is also easily excreted from the body.

Large particles of food often get stuck in the intestines, clogging it. In addition, during the process of thorough chewing, food acquires a temperature approximately equal to body temperature, which contributes to more comfortable functioning of the digestive system.

In the process of thorough chewing, food is well ground, so it is much easier for the body to absorb it, and it is saturated with a large amount of useful substances.

But food that enters the esophagus in a lump, poorly moistened with saliva, is not digested as needed, and because of this, the body suffers from a lack of useful micro- and macroelements. When food enters the mouth, it affects the taste buds, and the brain begins to regulate the functioning of the stomach, pancreas and other organs so that they produce the required amount of digestive enzymes and acids.

The longer the food stays in the mouth, the more correct the digestive system will be. As a result, food is digested much faster and better.

Large pieces of food that enter the esophagus as a result of poor chewing can lead to the entry of bacteria and other harmful microorganisms into the body. This is because food that is well ground is properly treated with the acidic environment of the stomach, which kills bacteria.

In large particles of food, these bacteria can remain unharmed and enter the intestines, after which their further multiplication and the development of various infections may follow.

Chewing food thoroughly has a positive effect on the functioning of the digestive system. Well-chopped food is digested faster, the body receives more nutrients from it, and it is also cleansed of various harmful microorganisms that enter the body along with food.

Chewing thoroughly as a way to lose weight

Chewing thoroughly as a method of losing weight

In many cases, weight problems occur due to frequent overeating. People who work long hours and come home pounce on food and absorb much more of it than the body needs.

Eating food slowly and chewing it thoroughly allows you to leave the meal with a slight feeling of hunger, avoiding overeating - this allows you to forget about problems with excess weight.

Constant overeating leads to an increase in the volume of the stomach, which is constantly stretched due to the excessive amount of food entering it. Chinese researchers conducted an interesting experiment among people of different weight categories.

Thirty young men took part. One half of the subjects chewed the food they received 15 times, the other 40. After some time, they took a blood test to check the amount of hunger hormone in it. It turned out that people who chewed more thoroughly had less of this hormone, ghrelin.

Yogis, known for their long life span, say: “Eat liquid food, drink solid food.” It should be understood this way: even relatively liquid food still needs to be chewed first so that it mixes with saliva, and only then swallowed.

Solid food needs to be chewed for a long time until it becomes liquid. Various scientific studies have found that people who chew their food for a long time become full faster than people who chew less.

This is due to the fact that when food enters the mouth, the body begins to produce histamine, a special hormone responsible for satiety. It reaches the brain twenty minutes after you start eating, so eating slowly allows you to feel full with less food than eating it quickly.

In addition to the fact that histamine is responsible for satiety, it also improves metabolism, which leads to the burning of excess fat in the body.

Chewing thoroughly allows a person to eat the amount of food he needs and avoid overeating. Overeating is a known cause of problems with excess weight, because as a result of rapid absorption of food, an amount of food enters the stomach that exceeds its capacity and therefore the organ stretches, becoming larger and larger over time, forcing the person to eat more and more.

Correct eating technique

40 times - how much you need to chew food

There is a lot of advice on how long you should chew each portion of food. In practice, any person can independently determine the time he spends chewing one piece of food by simply chewing it until it is impossible to determine what kind of food has previously entered the mouth.

It is quite optimal to experience food 30 to 40 times per serving that goes into your mouth.

Liquid foods, such as fruit puree or soup, should be chewed at least ten times. Although this seems a somewhat pointless activity: why chew something that is already in a liquid state, this process is really important because it allows you to moisten the food you consume with saliva. Food well moistened with saliva is better digested, regardless of the consistency of the food consumed.

Some tips for learning to chew food more thoroughly:

use chopsticks if necessary
While eating food, sit up straight and make sure your breathing is even and deep.
Don’t be distracted, be completely focused on the process of eating
eat in a designated area
try cooking yourself - it will make you appreciate every bite of food you eat

It is recommended to chew food thirty to forty times. It is during this time that it becomes sufficiently crushed and moistened with saliva, and this promotes good digestion. In order to learn to chew slowly, there are some practical tips.

Chewing food thoroughly is a healthy habit, a necessity that has a really good effect on the body. It allows you to avoid overeating, get full faster with less food, improves the digestion process and makes it more efficient.

Here's what you shouldn't do right after eating, a thematic video will tell you:

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The habit of poorly chewing food can lead to vascular disease

How food is digested

Amino acids will be used to build muscle tissue, enzymes and hormones. Carbohydrates will remain in the form of energy reserves or will be used to provide the body with essential energy.

Vascular tone under control

The degree of absorption of substances and the creation of the required concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood directly depends on how well the food is chewed.

Lack of time and opportunities

Chewing experiment

The Most Important Health Habit

It is necessary to develop the habit of proper food consumption as early as possible:

Eating food must take enough time for normal chewing of each piece.
Eating should always be done in a pleasant atmosphere, without worries and stress, or extraneous unnecessary thoughts.
Solid food should become as liquid as possible already in the oral cavity. Interestingly, liquid food also needs to be chewed to give enough time for saliva to be released and to allow it to mix evenly with it.

Five reasons to chew your food thoroughly

Since childhood, we have been fed up with advice, the most annoying of which, it seems, is the following advice - you need to eat slowly, chewing your food thoroughly. However, many of us don't even think about following this rule. Moreover, the reason for such carelessness is very simple - no one explained to us why it is so important to chew the food we eat thoroughly. Perhaps this advice will be heard by many more people who will begin to follow it regularly if they really understand how much better for their health it will be to take a small bite during meals and chew it for a long time. In fact, there are quite a lot of reasons why it should be done this way and not otherwise, but they can all be summarized into five different categories.

1. The digestive process begins in the mouth

Most people believe that the food they eat begins to dissolve only when they swallow it. However, the key moment of the entire digestive chain begins when food enters the mouth. Chewing itself is a signal for our salivary glands to produce saliva. In addition, this is a signal for our entire body, warning it that food will now begin to enter our stomach. This signal allows our stomach, literally, to prepare for food intake. The longer you chew your food, the more saliva it will mix in your mouth before it is swallowed. This, in fact, is one of the useful aspects of slowly chewing small pieces of food.

Despite the fact that human saliva is 98 percent water, it is an extremely useful substance and contains a huge amount of enzymes. In addition, our saliva contains many components that have antibacterial properties, including mucus and electrolytes. The enzymes contained in saliva begin the chemical process of breaking down food as soon as our teeth close behind the next portion of food. The teeth themselves at this moment also perform a vital function, grinding food and reducing its size so that our digestive system, which will soon receive chewed food, can more easily cope with it. Enzymes in our saliva break down carbohydrates and starches into simple sugars. This means that the longer you chew, the less work your digestive system has to eliminate these components.

2. The digestive system should not work for wear and tear.

Interestingly, often the best, most effective, and simplest remedy for stomach upset caused by eating too much is a preventive measure in which you eat the same amount of food, just over a slightly longer period of time. Chew each small piece longer, as this will greatly simplify the work of your digestive system in general, and your intestines in particular! The smaller the pieces of food that enter our digestive tract, the less gas we absorb. That is why, by swallowing small, thoroughly chewed pieces of food, we reduce the risk of gas accumulation in the stomach and get rid of the feeling of bloating after a heavy dinner or lunch. As for large pieces of food, another problem for the digestive system is that it is quite difficult for our body to move such pieces along the digestive tract.

3. Maximum nutrients from every meal!

Once your chewing process is close to the ideal and necessary for your health, you will begin to regularly supply your body with smaller pieces of food, which it can digest much faster and, very importantly, more efficiently. The smaller the piece of food you swallow after chewing, the less surface area of your digestive system is exposed to digestive enzymes. This, in turn, means that the less time it will take for a given piece to be broken down into its components, and the more nutrients will be absorbed by your body.

4. No to gluttony and overeating!

A once little-known fact that more and more people now know is that it takes about twenty minutes for our brains to receive a signal from our body that our stomach is full. If someone eats food too quickly, then such a person has a good chance of eating much more food than he really needs in order to feel full. As a result, such an eater will be left with an unpleasant feeling of satiety - a very unhealthy sensation with which, it seems, each of us is familiar. On the other hand, if you stop frantically working with a spoon or fork, and give yourself the opportunity to thoroughly chew each portion of food you put into your mouth before swallowing it, the process of eating food will take you longer. This means you have the opportunity to feel full before you overeat. In other words, that extra amount of food that you don’t need will not get into your stomach, and because of which every lunch, dinner or breakfast turns into an extremely unhealthy and unhealthy event for your body, threatening various problems for your health as a whole, and for your digestive system in particular.

5. Spend more time evaluating every bite you eat!

In the hectic modern world, most people have the desire to eat much more often than they once did. If you start spending more time chewing your food, then you will gradually begin to appreciate the time you spend on food in general much more. The longer you chew, the tastier and sweeter (literally!) each bite will seem to you. This is because saliva, as mentioned above, breaks down the complex components of any food into simple sugars. Further more! The aroma and texture of food will become more pronounced as you focus all your attention on the food and begin to appreciate the taste of each bite you eat. Chewing food slowly can open the door to a completely new world that has always been close to you, but to which you did not pay due attention. Thus, you will inevitably begin to take more care about what exactly you put in your mouth to fill you up! This will help you eat healthier and enjoy each slow meal more. You will never again pounce on food greedily, because you will no longer need it!

How long does it take to chew food?

There are a lot of opinions about the amount of time you need to spend chewing each piece. A great practical way to figure out how long it takes for each piece of food you put in your mouth is to chew until you can't tell just by the texture of the food what you're chewing. However, speaking in numbers, for solid foods the optimal amount is from 30 to 40 chews per bite. Dense and liquid mass, such as porridge, fruit smoothie, or soup, should be chewed at least ten times. Despite the fact that chewing food that cannot be chewed into small pieces seems pointless, the act of chewing will prevent possible stomach upset caused by consuming large amounts of food at a time when your digestive system is prepared by not chewing to drink only water or juice. . In addition, saliva mixed with food helps your body digest food much more easily, regardless of the consistency of what you eat. But what to do if you find it impossible to slowly absorb and chew food for the simple reason that you don’t have enough time for this? It may just be a matter of habit, which means it makes sense to try the following few tips that may help you learn to chew much more slowly:

- Try to use chopsticks.

- While eating, sit up straight and breathe deeply and slowly.

- Concentrate only on eating, without paying attention to anything around you.

- Eat food only in a specially designated place (for example, in the kitchen, and not in the room, sitting at the computer).

- Dedicate the time you spend eating food to simultaneously contemplating this process.

- Try to cook for yourself, as this will help you learn to appreciate every bite of food you eat.

Taking the time to chew your food thoroughly will do wonders for your digestive system in particular and your overall health. Among other things, you will get rid of the discomfort that you previously felt after every meal. And finally, appreciate every bite of food you eat as a real gift, and give your body a real chance to digest food exactly the way it should - without the slightest feeling of discomfort.

What happens if you don't chew your food?

When you are late for work or school, eating quickly will be a very useful skill. After all, by quickly eating food, without even chewing, we save time and can even watch TV before going out, but few people know that this is very harmful.

From early childhood, we were taught not to eat food quickly, but we all ignored this warning, because in fact, no one explained to us why we shouldn’t eat quickly. This very bad habit can lead to a disease such as type 2 diabetes. This is what I came up with, this is what scientists in Lithuania say, who conducted a small experiment: The Lithuanians invited 200 people who suffer from diabetes and 400 people who do not have it. A survey was conducted between them, their height and weight were measured, and their rate of food intake was also looked at. After everything was researched, they said that people who eat quickly have a 2-fold increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

They used to say that swallowing food quickly would only lead to weight gain, and this turned out to be true, especially when the body begins to take in so much food, it simply cannot process everything and this is precisely why obesity begins. We can safely say that digestion already begins in our mouth.

Many people believe that food is already dissolved before we swallow it. In fact, the key point is chewing, because it is then that a signal goes to the body that food is about to enter it, thereby preparing our stomach for this.

The smaller you make the food, the faster and easier it is for the body to cope with it. Human saliva contains up to 98% water and is a very useful substance that contains a huge amount of enzymes. Saliva also has antibacterial properties, including mucus and electrolytes. The enzymes contained in saliva begin to chemically the process of breaking down food after our teeth once again close for food. Enzymes in our saliva break down carbohydrates and starches into simple sugars. In other words, the longer you chew, the less work will be left in your digestive system to separate these components.

The main thing is that the digestive system does not work for wear. Try to chew even the smallest piece for as long as possible. The smaller the pieces of food that enter the tract, the less will be the amount of gas that we absorb. It is because of this that we reduce the risk of gas accumulation in the stomach and get rid of bloating after dinner and lunch. Large pieces are difficult for the body to move through the digestive tract. That’s why it’s worth chewing more thoroughly.

Over time, when you begin to completely not control yourself, but automatically chew your food, you will give your body maximum nutrients, because there will be less area of the digestive system exposed to enzymes. The main thing is not to overdo it, because not everyone knows the fact that our brain needs 20 minutes to understand that we are full. A person who eats food quickly can eat much more than he can, which is where gluttony and overeating begin to manifest themselves, because when you eat food, you spend time chewing it and, accordingly, the brain has time to understand when we are full.

Take more time to savor every bite of food you eat. The longer you chew, the more you will enjoy this food. As already mentioned about saliva, it breaks down food into sugars and the further it goes, the more. The texture of food will become more pronounced as you focus your attention on each bite you eat. Now you will never greedily pounce on food, as you can easily and effortlessly eat even a small portion and will receive complete and healthy nutrition.

No one can say for sure how much you need to chew food. On average, you will need to chew it until its structure becomes incomprehensible to you. In general, you need to do 30 to 40 chews per piece. If you are going to eat jelly, soup or similar foods, chew at least 10 times.

But what to do if you don’t have time or are just too lazy to chew for a long time? Here are some tips to help you with this:

1) Learn to use chopsticks, because you won’t pick up much food with them

2) While eating, breathe deeply and slowly, sit straight

3) Don't look at your surroundings. Concentrate completely and completely on your food.

4) Eat only in designated places, for example in the kitchen, dining room. It is not advisable to eat near the TV and computer.

5) Cook yourself, because then you will value your own work, and therefore appreciate every piece of food.

Give yourself time to eat and then your digestive system will be very grateful to you. In addition, you will get rid of unpleasant discomfort in the stomach. Try to appreciate every piece of food you eat as if it were a real gift and make your body strong and resilient.

Why you need to chew food thoroughly

Why should food be chewed thoroughly? Leading experts tell us about this, but we still swallow food quickly, not caring about the form in which it enters the stomach. The rhythm of modern life forces us to do everything on the run - we are constantly in a hurry to get somewhere and forget about the most important thing - food culture. And it also includes the correct attitude towards the pace at which our chewing muscles should work.

What are the consequences of not following the recommendations of experts who call for eating slowly and sedately - as if you were at a dinner party with the queen? The negative consequences of haste can lead to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract - after all, food that enters the stomach in the form of a lump is not absorbed by our body and will slow down metabolism. And we know very well that fast metabolism and healthy digestion are the key to the slim figure that we so strive for.

Why you need to chew your food thoroughly: a little history

More than a hundred years ago, the principle “the slower you go, the further you go” was proposed by Horace Fletcher. This world-famous American nutritionist was firmly convinced that one should eat slowly, since swallowing food in a hurry is simply harmful to health. The main advice that the “Great Chewer” gave to people was this: each piece must be chewed 32 times until it passes from a solid state to a liquid state. In this form, food is quickly absorbed by our body, which means it will help maintain a feeling of fullness and slimness. The specialist advised spitting out everything that was left after careful “processing” in the mouth.

Fletcher's concept extended not only to foods that required careful softening, but also to drinks. He believed that you should drink milk, water and even freshly squeezed juice like a wine taster drinks wine - holding each sip in your mouth to enjoy its taste. Agree, this is how everyone will begin to enjoy their daily meals.

Fletcher's advice helped not only himself - the nutritionist successfully lost weight following his own method - but also many people who were ready to stop rushing at the table and start eating right. The theory of thoroughly chewing food attracted the attention of one of the most famous billionaires, Rockefeller. And everyone’s favorite Mark Twain often visited the nutritionist’s house.

The idea of slowly absorbing cooked dishes is promoted to the masses by yogis - long-lived people with enviable health. They went much further than Horace Fletcher: they recommend chewing food not 32 times, but all of it. This approach allows you to get enough of a relatively small portion very quickly and not feel hungry for a long time. For yogis themselves, one banana is enough to recharge their energy.

Do you want to achieve amazing slimness and improve your well-being? Then don’t rush - eat slowly, turning your meal into a real ritual. This will help get rid of many digestive problems and prevent the development of serious diseases directly or indirectly related to the habit of swallowing without chewing.

Find out more about our weight loss programs:

Nutrition experts confirm: the digestion of basic foods is a physiological process, which is based on the processing of food that has entered the digestive tract. The better it is absorbed, the more benefits our body will receive. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates can work for the benefit of human health only if they are broken down into simple compounds. In this they are helped by enzymes produced by the cells of the salivary, gastric and intestinal glands. In broken down form, the foods we eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner are absorbed and transported inside the body.

The right path to health

Let's consider two options for behavior at the table: a detailed analysis will help you understand how to chew food correctly.

The first situation is this: we are in a hurry, choke on prepared dishes and finish the meal as soon as we have started it. What happens when fast food enters the digestive tract?

Food that has not been in the mouth for a long time quickly penetrates the stomach, in the upper part of which hydrochloric acid is produced. The result of its effect on proteins, fats and carbohydrates is the occurrence of fermentation processes.

Afterwards, the products should be alkalized and redirected to the initial part of the small intestine, but this does not happen, since the pylorus (the valve that blocks the path from the stomach to an important organ) refuses to let food through until its chemical composition reaches a certain value - 7.8 . Energy resources – the body’s strength – are spent on “preparing” what you eat.

With age, when snacking in a hurry, the gatekeeper simply stops working. Undigested masses that enter the duodenum are returned back to the stomach or intestines (small - if it is healthy, or thick - this scenario is possible with dysbiosis). The functioning of the gastrointestinal tract organs is disrupted, layers in the form of stones appear, as a result of the rotting of proteins, healthy microflora dies, and immunity decreases.

Now let's see what happens if we start eating slowly, chewing our food thoroughly.

Food, turned into a softened and homogeneous pulp, slides down into the esophagus.

Nothing interferes with the breakdown of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The products taken in by our body are easily absorbed by it, and all the substances we need are absorbed into the blood without problems.

Toxins do not accumulate in us, but are eliminated naturally.

The microflora of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized, discomfort after eating (heaviness, abdominal pain, heartburn, belching) disappears.

Harm from poorly chewed food

Speaking about the negative consequences of rushing at the table, one cannot help but remember that all food that is not completely processed, entering the body, is deposited in the form of fatty deposits. In addition, what we put into ourselves without chewing it properly can not only cause considerable discomfort after a meal, but also cause disturbances in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract:

Such food will not bring you health, no matter how healthy the products used in preparing the dishes are. The reason is insufficient grinding, which blocks the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, causing bloating and an unpleasant feeling of heaviness.

If you swallow a dry piece without chewing it, you will damage the gastric mucosa, which can cause erosion and the development of an inflammatory process.

Chewing food poorly means promoting the proliferation of harmful bacteria in our body. When they enter the intestines, they provoke the occurrence of infectious diseases.

Insufficiently processed food will simply not be digested and will turn into fat reserves that weigh down our figure. It’s unlikely that anyone will like such a “load,” but we ourselves are to blame for this - we should have chewed more slowly and longer. The fact is that a large piece of food will be digested by our stomach for more than an hour - an hour and a half, or even more. And we often don’t give him such a reserve of time to work. The result is extra pounds instead of slimness.

If you haven't properly processed food in your mouth, you'll feel hungry much faster. When we grind food to the required state, it evenly fills the stomach and is digested easier, which means satiety will come earlier than with an incorrect, hasty snack.

This is why food must be chewed thoroughly. Expert advice will help you avoid many of the troubles associated with quickly eating food - a feeling of heaviness and bloating in the abdomen, irritation of the mucous membranes and vitamin deficiency. And most importantly, eating slowly will be the first step to a slim figure.

Think for yourself: do you want to be full or always hungry? After all, a person who does not watch how and what he eats, swallows hastily and chokes on something harmful in order to get somewhere, will live with a constant ravenous appetite - due to insufficient absorption of what he eats.

How does chewing food thoroughly affect our body?

What does a slow and truly healthy meal contribute to?

Strengthening our gums - uniform load on them increases blood circulation and reduces the risk of developing periodontitis.

The healthy functioning of the gastrointestinal tract - when food enters the mouth, our brain receives a corresponding signal. In turn, it begins to “notify” the pancreas and stomach about this, which promotes the active production of digestive juice and important enzymes. Their quantity, and with it the quality of food digestion, depends on the duration of chewing.

The complete absorption of all nutrients supplied with food - the chewing process allows us not only to enjoy the taste of cooked dishes, but also to receive all the valuable vitamins and microelements from them. Foods containing complex carbohydrates begin to be digested right in the mouth. If we want to reduce stress on our gastrointestinal tract, it is in our best interest to chew our food longer and more thoroughly.

Losing weight and getting a slim figure - when we eat slowly, we get full faster with much smaller portions. We consume a minimum of calories and help ourselves gradually get rid of accumulated kilograms. When food enters our mouth and comes into contact with saliva, it triggers the production of histamine. Its goal is our brain, which it reaches 20 minutes after the start of the meal, signaling to it that the body has received the necessary nutrients, and we are full and satisfied. In addition, this hormone helps improve and speed up metabolism.

Normalization of cardiac activity - large pieces of food that we do not chew during breakfast, lunch or dinner put pressure on the diaphragm and load the heart, worsening its function.

How many times should you chew food: how to do it correctly

Who to trust - yogis or nutritionist Fletcher? Recently, a study was conducted by scientists from Harbin - they proved that chewing food 40 times contributes to the full absorption of nutrients.

If you are not ready to count, you can use the results obtained by specialists from Birmingham. They proved that people who spend up to 30 seconds on each serving lose extra pounds much faster than those who eat quickly, without caring about the quality of food digestion.

You should eat slowly. This rule must be remembered for the rest of your life so that you can pass it on to your children. Instantly swallowing large pieces is good for boas, but not for people. If you want to understand how to chew food properly, follow the advice of yogis or the Japanese, who are accustomed to eating until eight out of ten parts of the stomach are filled.

How to learn to eat correctly?

If you find it difficult to get used to everything new, you can use these simple but effective tips:

Try eating not with a fork or spoon, but with chopsticks, which the Chinese use so easily. This will teach you to eat slowly, patiently turning solid food into liquid.

Try to concentrate on the taste of what you eat and enjoy it to the fullest. For a person who is in a hurry and swallows food hastily, it becomes increasingly difficult to enjoy the prepared dishes, no matter how appetizing they may be.

Eat only at the table. Don’t forget about food culture - you can start serving so that you want to have a meal exclusively in the kitchen, and not in the living room or at the computer.

Remember how many times you need to chew your food and count to yourself. If this doesn’t work (for example, you get confused), you can time it - 30 seconds for each portion.

Eat only what you have prepared yourself - it’s a pleasure to savor such a dish for as long as possible!

Don't slouch while eating - sit straight. Do not be distracted by conversations - swallowed air contributes to the formation of gases in the intestines and inhibits digestion.

If you want to find out how many times you need to chew your food and whether you need to count yourself in order to lose weight, come to us - we will give valuable advice, develop a weight loss program and become guides to the world of slimness without painful diets and limiting yourself in everything. Start your journey to an ideal figure with healthy eating with us!

It only brings benefits. Scientists have long proven this statement. Observations were conducted at various research centers that provided answers to the question: why do you need to chew food thoroughly? If food does not linger in the mouth and is quickly sent unprepared through the esophagus to the stomach, a lot of health problems are at risk. Let us highlight a number of reasons why food should be ground thoroughly and slowly.

Chewing allows you to lose weight quickly

It may seem strange, but by chewing food thoroughly, we actually help the body control how it absorbs food. And this promotes rapid weight loss. As a rule, a person gains excess weight if he overeats. At moments when the feeling of hunger is too strong, we quickly chew and swallow food, without noticing how well it is processed. Trying to get enough as soon as possible, we send unchopped pieces into the stomach. As a result, much more food is absorbed than is required to saturate the body.

If you chew your food thoughtfully and slowly, your likelihood of losing weight increases. By carefully grinding food to a mushy state, it is quite possible to get enough of small amounts, thereby avoiding overeating. This is what leads to excess weight gain. When the hormone histamine begins to be produced, the brain receives a signal and a feeling of satiety occurs. The maximum concentration of histamine is reached approximately 20 minutes after the start of the meal. If you chew slowly during this time, the amount of food consumed will be much less than if you swallow it in pieces. The feeling of fullness will come in any case, but there will be a lot of harm from a large amount of poorly ground food.

Examples of research

One of the most striking examples is a study where scientists observed two groups of subjects. Everyone was offered the same portions of food for the meal, but the first ones had to chew the food, limiting it to 15 movements. The second group chewed food 40 times. After finishing lunch, all subjects had their blood taken for analysis. The results were incredible. Those who chewed their food more thoroughly had significantly less hunger hormone (ghrelin). Experience has proven that with a calm, measured meal, satiety lasts much longer than for those who are in a hurry.

So, by chewing food thoroughly, you help the body not only keep weight under control, it also stabilizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, minimizing the possibility of harmful deposits - toxins, waste, stones.

Digestion of food begins in the mouth

A large number of people tend to think that food begins to be processed and broken down as soon as it enters the stomach. This is a wrong opinion. The digestive process begins already in the oral cavity, which is why food must be chewed thoroughly. Our salivary glands perceive the chewing process as a signal to produce saliva, and also give the go-ahead to the stomach so that it prepares for food intake. The longer food remains in the mouth, the more it mixes with saliva. Saliva contains a lot of useful enzymes that help the process of breaking down food and provide an antibacterial effect.

The longer you chew, the less work your stomach and then your intestines have to do. Saliva begins to break down carbohydrates and starch into simpler glucose. Teeth play a primary role in the digestion process. They grind food into a pulp, then it will be much easier for the gastrointestinal tract to process it.

Don't overload your digestive system

This point smoothly follows from the previous one. You need to chew food thoroughly; this will not only facilitate rapid digestion, but also serve as an excellent prevention of various stomach disorders. If the pieces are very small, the formation of gases in the intestines will be minimal. This also helps to get rid of the unpleasant sensations of bloating and heaviness after eating. The gastrointestinal tract receives maximum benefits from thorough chewing. Large pieces of the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach can be injured, this leads to the formation of various gastrointestinal ailments, including ulcers.

Well-chewed food, which is sufficiently saturated with saliva, easily passes through the digestive tract, is digested without problems and is eliminated from the body without difficulty.

Digestion Aid

Answering the question why food needs to be chewed thoroughly, it is worth noting the fact that when it is in the mouth for a long time, its temperature approaches body temperature. It will be easier for the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach to work with this consistency. Large pieces can linger in the intestines for a long time until they are fully digested. This often causes severe abdominal pain. Also, complete chewing helps the body quickly absorb small foods, while the blood receives more necessary substances and enzymes. Lumps are difficult to process, so saturation with vitamins, proteins, microelements and other beneficial substances does not occur to the fullest extent.

Once food that is poorly chewed and not moistened with sufficient saliva enters the digestive system, it becomes a breeding ground for microorganisms and bacteria. Already in the mouth, saliva processes the food, removes bacteria, then small pieces in the stomach are saturated with hydrochloric acid. If the lumps are large, they are poorly disinfected. Acid simply cannot penetrate them. This means that the bacteria located there remain alive and then freely enter the intestines. There they multiply intensively and provoke dangerous intestinal infections and diseases, including dysbacteriosis.

Beneficial effects on the heart

High-quality chewing has a positive effect not only on the digestive tract, but also on other important organs, perhaps on the entire body as a whole - this can answer the question of why you need to chew food thoroughly.

The load on the heart is significantly reduced. When food is quickly consumed, the heartbeat accelerates by about 10 beats per minute. Large lumps, being in the stomach, cannot be distributed evenly there, so there is pressure on the diaphragm. This significantly affects the work of the heart muscle and its rhythm. With calm, slow, long chewing, the heart rate will always be normal.

Help for all organs

Chewing thoroughly strengthens the gums. Hard foods put serious stress on our teeth and gums. At the same time, an excellent workout occurs, blood flow to the tissues increases. The effect of acids on enamel is significantly reduced with intensive chewing, because more saliva is produced. The longer we chew, the more saliva we produce. It neutralizes acid, fights microbes, has a positive effect on enamel, and strengthens teeth.

Why do you need to chew your food thoroughly? It’s worth saying here that prolonged processing of food in the mouth helps relieve nervous tension. Long chewing helps to concentrate and improve performance.

Processing food in the mouth significantly reduces the risks of intoxication. Lysozyme contained in saliva has antibacterial properties. It destroys various microbes before they enter the body. Therefore, before swallowing, food must be saturated with your own saliva.

Improving the taste of food

With thorough chewing, a person more clearly reveals the richness of the aromas and taste of food. This happens thanks to saliva. As already mentioned, it breaks down the pieces into simple sugars with its enzymes. The taste buds that are located on the tongue begin to respond better to the constituent components. More refined impulses are sent to the brain, and a sharper pleasure of taste comes.

How long should you chew food?

We have briefly answered the question why you need to chew your food thoroughly, now we find out how long it takes to do this? There is no clear answer. It depends on how and what the dish is prepared from, in general, what type it is classified as. For example, there is no point in chewing soups and purees for a long time. The former contain a lot of water, while the latter already resemble in consistency the mass that normally fills our stomach.

One has only to say that you need to saturate food with saliva in any case. To properly process solid food in the mouth, it is recommended to make 30-40 chewing movements; for everything else, 10-15 will be enough. Experts advise focusing on the fact that the food turns into a liquid pulp, and the full development of taste is felt.

Conclusions: briefly about the main thing

Let's draw conclusions and give a brief answer why food should be chewed thoroughly.

To stimulatework of the pancreas and stomach. Food entering the oral cavity gives a signal to the brain, which in turn gives a signal to the digestive system. Acids and enzymes necessary for the digestion process begin to be produced. Thorough chewing enhances the signal, resulting in the amount of enzymes needed to process the food. This improves the digestive process.

Accelerates nutrient absorption. Well-dissolved pieces in the mouth are broken down faster in the body. It is no coincidence that foreign elements are not processed and are often removed only surgically. To process large lumps, bile and pancreatic juice are forced to be released. The stomach does extra work. At the same time, your health worsens, your energy becomes minimal. Only thoroughly chewed food increases our efficiency and accelerates the absorption of nutrients.

Saliva. It consists of 98% water, 2% vitamins, minerals, enzymes. During chewing, saliva is released 10 times more than in a calm state. An increased amount of useful elements has a beneficial effect on the condition of the enamel and the entire body as a whole.

Strengthening gums. All components of our body need constant training. For the gums, this is the process of chewing. The load on the gums when chewing can reach 100 kg, which increases blood flow and reduces the likelihood of periodontal disease.

Pressure on the diaphragm decreases. Everyone felt how difficult it was for a large piece to pass through the esophagus, making its way to the digestive tract. This is how you feel the load on the diaphragm. The heart is located next door.

Weight loss. When food is thoroughly processed, taste buds are quickly satisfied, and a feeling of fullness comes. In this case, overeating is excluded, and it is this that causes excess weight gain.

Unified State Exam question: “Why do you need to chew food thoroughly?”

When entering prestigious universities in the country, many students require Unified State Examination results in biology. Those who are going to medical school should prepare well for the exam in advance. The question in block C1 “Why should food be chewed thoroughly” has the following correct answers:

Thoroughly chewed food is quickly soaked in digestive juices.
With thorough chewing, the digestion process accelerates, while complex insoluble organic substances are transformed into less complex ones and are absorbed into the lymph and blood.

So, we answered the Unified State Exam question “Why should you chew food thoroughly” simply and in detail. Shorter answers are also provided. Our information will help you prepare to answer this question, and will also be instructive for all readers.

Modern man is sorely short of time; he needs to do everything and go everywhere. Everyone knows that they need to chew their food thoroughly, but not everyone does it. Some are accustomed to speedy swallowing, others are accustomed to snacking on the go, and others simply have nothing to chew due to lack of teeth and lack of time for dentures. Meanwhile, not only our health, but also our slim figure depends on the amount of chewing food.

Rapid ingestion of food causes the development of caries, gastritis, stomach ulcers and obesity. The longer we chew food, the less we eat, which means the faster we lose weight. As research by scientists has shown, if a person chews food 40 times instead of 12 times, then the calorie content of his diet is reduced by 12%. This reduction in calories by thoroughly chewing food is the cheapest way to lose weight. After all, in this way the average person can achieve the loss of an extra 10 kg per year.

During experiments, scientists found that whoever chews longer gets full faster. In the hypothalamus of our brain there are neurons that require the hormone histamine, which begins to be produced only after a person begins to chew. Histamine transmits satiety signals to brain neurons. But these signals reach the hypothalamus only 20 minutes after the start of the meal, so until this time the person continues to eat. And if he swallows food quickly and in large pieces, then before the signal of saturation is transmitted, he already has time to gain extra calories.

If we chew food thoroughly, we do not give the body the opportunity to overeat. Histamine not only serves to transmit signals of satiety, but also improves metabolism. Therefore, paying attention to chewing, a person not only begins to eat less, but also helps speed up the process of burning excess calories.

To lose weight, you need to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly, and you need to stop eating by leaving some free space in your stomach.

As the Japanese advise, eat until your stomach is eight out of ten full. When a person constantly overeats, his stomach stretches and more food is required to fill it. This creates a vicious circle that is harmful to a slim figure and health. You should also avoid distractions while eating, such as reading or watching TV. In this case, it is very difficult for the body to determine when to stop eating.

Chewing food thoroughly promotes faster digestion and absorption of food. After all, digestion begins not in the stomach, but in the oral cavity. The better you chew your food, the more it interacts with saliva. Saliva contains a protein - amylase, which helps break down complex carbohydrates into simple ones already in the mouth. In addition, saliva is rich in various enzymes, hormones, vitamins and biologically active substances that promote better chewing of food and its rapid movement through the digestive tract.

When chewing food for a long time, a large amount of saliva is released, which has a beneficial effect not only on digestion, but also improves the condition of the teeth. The components of saliva form a protective film on the teeth and strengthen the tooth enamel. Chewing for teeth and gums is a kind of muscle training in the gym. When chewing hard food, strong pressure is applied to the teeth, which increases blood supply to the gums and teeth, which is the prevention of periodontal disease. To keep your gums and teeth busy, try to include more apples, carrots, cabbage, nuts, barley porridge and other foods that require prolonged chewing in your diet. Chew food, evenly loading all teeth, alternately with the left and then with the right side of the jaw. Do not take food with milk, tea, juice, drinks, water or other liquid. By swallowing food along with liquid, you do not chew it and thereby deprive it of the opportunity to interact with saliva.

Based on observations of the life of a cow, we can safely say that you can chew continuously around the clock. Such thorough chewing of food is, of course, not acceptable for people. How many times should you chew food to achieve better weight loss? Some advise 100-150 times, and some advise 50-70 times. It really depends on what you're chewing. If it’s difficult to grind a carrot in 50 times, then a minced meat cutlet can be done in 40. And the condition of everyone’s teeth is different.

Of course, it’s not worth counting, but it really takes a long time, especially if you’re not used to it. Each piece is chewed until it becomes absolutely liquid, so that the tongue does not feel the slightest heterogeneity. In this case, the food is abundantly moistened with saliva. If there is no or little saliva, it means that either the person is not yet hungry (or is already full), or the food is of poor quality - too astringent, scalding, tasteless or dry.

Many people take the path of least resistance, drinking plenty of food. In principle, it is allowed to sip a little, but it is advisable to learn to make do with your own saliva. Moreover, liquid food also needs to be chewed, thoroughly sloshing around in the mouth with each sip. This is due not only to the fact that salivary enzymes break down starches and, to some extent, proteins, and mucin, the mucous substance of saliva, makes food digestible.

By the way, almost all plant foods have the property that during the process of chewing they become more and more tasty. People who swallow quickly simply do not know the real taste of food. Chewing is also extremely important from a physiological point of view. After all, all nutrients are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract only in a dissolved state. In a lump, food is not digested. Small lumps can be softened by gastric juice; pancreatic juice and bile contribute to further dissolution. But at the same time, digestion slows down significantly, the possibility of putrefactive fermentation appears, and food is used extremely irrationally. The efficiency of our digestive machine increases significantly if food enters the stomach in liquid form, properly processed by saliva. It becomes possible to be content with fewer foods, because a person is nourished not by what he ate, but by what he assimilated. It is known that the lion's share of our energy expenditure comes from digestion. These costs are significantly reduced with thorough chewing, because the volume of food eaten is usually reduced, and the quality of pre-processing is greatly increased. The digestive organs get the opportunity to work without overstrain and rest, as a result, a wide variety of diseases - gastritis, colitis, ulcers, neurasthenia, etc. go away on their own. No, it is no coincidence that all nutritionists insist on thorough chewing, often even declaring this principle to be the key one.

While chewing food, it has time to warm up to body temperature. This means that the stomach will more easily meet the next portion and will not contract in a convulsive spasm. As a result, the mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus will be able to begin processing food easier and more comfortably.

If each bite of food is preceded by thorough chewing, the food becomes rich and saturated with saliva. Saliva additionally softens food and makes it easier to swallow. Food saturated with saliva slides down the esophagus more easily.

During thorough chewing of food, not only a sufficient amount of saliva is released. Chewing movements of the jaw trigger a complex mechanism to prepare the entire digestive system for the upcoming work, and gastric juice begins to be produced.

That is why prolonged use of chewing gum is fraught with negative consequences. After all, the stomach and digestive system receive a false signal and begin to prepare for food that never arrives! Over time, “false positives” unbalance the digestive tract. And the optimal functioning of the entire digestive system is disrupted over time.

Saliva is also necessary for disinfection - it contains a lot of lysozyme, a special enzyme that effectively fights bacteria.

If you neglect to thoroughly chew your food and swallow everything without chewing, the load on the digestive system will increase many times over. Some hastily swallowed food can be processed in the stomach - but only the smallest parts. Larger pieces will end up in the intestines. They will not be completely processed because their size is too large for gastric juice to penetrate into every particle.

Thus, if chewing food is not completed completely, a considerable part of it will not be absorbed by the body. And it will simply be eliminated from the body, wasting the stomach and intestines with unnecessary work. If the chewing of food is done correctly, that is, the food is ground to a mushy state, it is much easier for the stomach to cope with such a substance. As a result of more complete processing of food, the body will receive more energy and will not work in vain.

In addition, if food is absorbed more fully and efficiently, much less food will be required. The stomach will stretch much less. The digestive system will begin to function more optimally because it will have to do less work. An additional benefit of thorough chewing is that it can reduce the severity or dramatically reduce the manifestations of gastritis, colitis and even ulcers. The body begins to use the released forces to fight the disease.

So start helping society today by chewing your food thoroughly.
Moreover, people have long said: How long you chew, how long you will live.

Why you need to chew your food thoroughly - it brings obvious benefits, this has been scientifically proven. Various scientists from countries around the world conducted special studies and were able to prove that if you chew food for a short time and then quickly swallow it, you can develop a lot of health problems.

In total, there are five reasons why you need to chew food completely, and do it slowly.

Reason one: fast weight loss

No matter how trivial it may sound, chewing food thoroughly actually contributes to fairly rapid weight loss. Gaining excess weight usually occurs when a person overeats. This is also facilitated by the fact that when we feel a strong feeling of hunger, we eat quickly, practically not paying attention to how well we chew the food. Trying to get enough as soon as possible, a person sends food into the stomach poorly chopped, and this inevitably leads to the fact that he eats many times more than his body actually needs.

If you eat slowly and thoughtfully, you can lose a few pounds.

If you chew each portion of food in your mouth thoroughly, grinding it to a mushy state, you can completely fill yourself with a small amount of food and prevent overeating (which is what leads to excess weight gain). At the same time, the body will begin to produce a special hormone called histamine, thanks to the presence of which the brain receives a kind of signal that a feeling of satiety has already occurred. Its maximum concentration is reached approximately 20 minutes after the start of a meal.

If during this entire time you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly, then after the release of histamine it will turn out that not so much was eaten, but a feeling of fullness has come. But if you eat quickly and chew your food poorly, then you can eat a lot during this period of time.

Histamine, by the way, also helps improve metabolism, which significantly speeds up the process of burning calories.

Examples of research and testing

One of the most striking examples is a study in which scientists divided a group of people into two parts. The first was offered a meal and the condition was set that they must chew each portion of food 15 times, and the second - 40 times. At the end of the meal, a blood test was taken from everyone. It showed that those who chewed more had much less ghrelin, the hunger hormone, in their blood. As a result of this, they were able to prove that supporters of calm eating have a feeling of fullness that lasts much longer than those who eat quickly.

High-quality chewing of food leads to weight loss because it stabilizes and improves the functioning of all gastrointestinal systems, and also minimizes the amount of harmful deposits - waste, stones, toxins and everything else.

Reason two: Digestion of food begins in the mouth

Many people believe that the digestive processes in their body are initiated only when food ends up in the stomach, where it begins to break down. However, it is not. The key moment of digestion begins from the moment food enters the oral cavity. The fact is that the beginning of chewing is perceived by the salivary glands as a signal to start producing saliva. It is also a “signal” to the stomach that food will soon enter it. So, the longer a person chews food, the more saliva will mix with it.

Saliva contains enzymes, so it is important to “saturate” the food you eat with it.

Our saliva is 98% water; despite this, it contains many useful enzymes that have antibacterial properties. They initiate chemical processes that affect the breakdown of food. The longer a person chews, the less work is left for the stomach and intestines, as these enzymes begin to break down starch and carbohydrates into simpler sugars. At the same time, teeth also play an important role - thanks to them, food is broken down into tiny particles, making it much easier for the digestive system to cope with it.

Reason three: do not overload the digestive system

This reason smoothly follows from the previous one. Chewing food thoroughly not only makes it easier to digest, but is also an excellent preventive measure for stomach disorders. The smaller the pieces of food that enter the digestive system, the less gases will be produced in the body. This will also help relieve the feeling of bloating after eating lunch or dinner.

The gastrointestinal tract receives the greatest benefit from high-quality chewing of food. Large pieces of food can injure the mucous membrane of the esophagus, which will ultimately lead to the formation of ulcers and the development of many ailments of the digestive system. But thoroughly chewed food, which is also fully moistened with saliva, passes through the digestive tract very easily, is digested without any problems and is then quickly eliminated. Even when a person chews food for a long time, its temperature becomes close to body temperature, which facilitates the work of the mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus. Large pieces get stuck in the intestines, sometimes for a long time (until they are completely digested).

Poorly chopped food can cause severe abdominal pain

Full chewing of food is also useful because smaller food can be absorbed faster by the body, as a result of which the circulatory system will receive more useful enzymes and substances. Lumps of food are not digested as they should normally, so a person receives much less microelements, proteins, vitamins and other necessary substances.

When poorly chewed food enters the digestive system, bacteria and various microorganisms begin to actively multiply in the body. Properly crushed food is treated with hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach, and large particles cannot be completely absorbed. This means that the bacteria lurking in food remain intact and unharmed, and they enter the intestines in the same form. Already inside it they begin to multiply, provoking the development of various intestinal infections and dysbacteriosis.

Reason four: beneficial effects on all body systems

Thoughtful and high-quality chewing of food has a positive effect not only on the digestive system and the process of processing food, but also on the entire body as a whole:

Because saliva contains lysozyme, a substance that has an antimicrobial effect. It helps destroy various bacteria even before food reaches the stomach. That is why it is better to saturate the food with your own saliva and then swallow it.

Reason Five: Evaluating Every Serving of Food to Improve Taste

If a person begins to spend more time chewing food, he will be able to discover for himself all the richness of the taste and aroma of food. This happens because, as mentioned earlier, saliva contains enzymes that break down food into simple sugars. After this, the taste buds located on the tongue will respond much better to processed food and, accordingly, send more powerful impulses to the part of the brain responsible for pleasure.

By chewing slowly, you can fully enjoy the taste of your food.

How long should you chew food?

This question cannot be answered unequivocally, because it all depends on what products this or that dish is prepared from and what type it generally belongs to. Soups and purees, for example, are not advisable to chew for a long time, since the former contain a lot of liquid, and the latter, in their consistency, already resemble the mass into which food turns in the stomach. Although it’s still worth saturating them with saliva.

In general, recommendations may look like this - to properly handle hard foods, it is advisable to make 30-35 jaw movements, and for everything else, 10-15 chews are enough. Many nutrition experts believe that you need to chew food to the point where it turns into a homogeneous paste and its full flavor is revealed.