In today's article, we will discuss about the some problems that are the harm to health due to not chewing food properly. Along with this, you will also know the benefits of chewing food properly.
Oral cavity plays an important role in digestion of food. Oral cavity refers to the mouth. It includes the lips, the lining inside the cheeks and lips, the front two thirds of the tongue, the upper and lower gums, the floor of the mouth under the tongue, the bony roof of the mouth, and the small area behind the wisdom teeth.The oral cavity is formed by the arch of the hard and soft palates above, the teeth and cheeks laterally, and the tongue on the floor of the mouth.Your mouth, or oral cavity, is an oval-shaped opening in the skull.It starts at the lips and ends at the throat.It's important to several bodily functions, including breathing, speaking, and digesting food.In a healthy mouth, tissues are moist, pink, odor-free and pain-free.The major salivary glands are in close relation with oral cavity structures, although they are not part of the oral cavity.The normal oral temperature of 37° C (98.2° F) is merely an average. The true normal range is from 36.1° to 37.5° C (97° to 99.6° F).The body temperature of healthy human is 37 °C.Our oral cavity is a natural incubator that support the growth of bacteria.
The buccal cavity or oral cavity is the beginning of the alimentary canal, which leads from the oropharynx to the oesophagus.Oral cavity is separated by the palate and functions as an entrance to the digestive system and is composed of the teeth, tongue, and palate.Your tongue is a muscular organ in your mouth that aids in chewing, speaking and breathing.Buccal cavity is the part of the digestive canal is involved in chewing of food.
The intake of food takes place through the mouth.
A normal adult mouth has 32 teeth, which (except for wisdom teeth) have erupted by about age 13: Incisors (8 total): The middlemost four teeth on the upper and lower jaws. Canines (4 total): The pointed teeth just outside the incisors. Premolars (8 total): Teeth between the canines and molars.According to a 2019 article , a full set of adult teeth typically numbers 32, including four wisdom teeth. Each row of teeth includes: four incisors, in the middle of the row at the front of the mouth.
How to chew your food properly?
•Chew slowly and steadily
•Chew until your mouthful of food is liquefied or lost all of its texture
•Finish chewing and swallowing completely before taking another bite of food
•Wait to drink fluids until you’ve swallowed.
When you don’t chew your food enough, the rest of your digestive system becomes confused. Your body may not produce enough of the digestive enzymes needed to fully break down your food. This could lead to digestive problems, including:
bloating
diarrhea
heartburn
acid reflux
cramps
nausea
headaches
skin problems
irritability
malnutrition
indigestion
gas etc.
Demerits of not chewing food:
(1) Don't swallow food in a hurry.When you don't chew food enough, the rest of your digestive system gets confused. Your body doesn't produce enough of the digestive enzymes needed to break down your food. It can cause digestive problems like bloating, diarrhoea, stomach irritation, cramps, irritability, malnutrition, sour belching, and gas.
(2) It is said that the work that the teeth have to do, does not put a burden on the stomach, which means if you chew the food properly, then the work of the stomach will be easy and there will be no burden on stomach and no problem with gas.The goal of chewing is to break down your food so it loses texture. Chewing 32 times appears to be an average number applied to most bites of food. Foods that are harder to chew, such as steak and nuts, may require up to 40 chews per mouthful.If you don't chew food properly,this brings burden on stomach.
(3) If food is not chewed and properly larger particles enter the digestive tract causing digestive problems such as gas, bloating, constipation, food reactions, headaches and lowered energy levels. As you chew your food more digestive enzymes are produced. These help to breakdown food further to assist digestion.
(4)The importance of extra chewing your food:
Extra chewing allows compound within the food an additional opportunity to combine before they make it further down the digestive tract, which may have a positive influence on health.
People who chew food for longer absorb foods better. The smaller the molecules of food, the better the digestive enzymes can break them down and extract nutrition from it. The more you chew, the more you retain and the less you waste through excretion.
(5) Chewing thoroughly not only makes it easier to swallow food, but also brings various benefits that promote your health, such as making food more tasty and helping with digestion and absorption. If food is not chewed properly and gulped may chok oesophagus that is food pipe.
(6) Chewing thoroughly and eating slowly prevents overeating, which leads to the prevention of obesity and helps in loss of weight.
Not chewing food properly may increase your body weight resulting in obesity.
(7) Chewing is not only an important part of the digestive process but it's also beneficial to overall health. People who don't chew their food well enough before they swallow often develop digestive problems, and are also at a greater risk for choking.
A few big sips of water may help you wash down the food stuck in your esophagus. Normally, your saliva provides enough lubrication to help food slide easily down the esophagus.If your food wasn't chewed properly, it may be too dry and hard. Repeated sips of water may moisten the stuck food, making it go down more easily.
If food gets stuck in your oesophagus it can result in choking:
Sometimes, however, food get can stuck in the oesophagus, creating an uncomfortable sensation in the throat or chest. At other times, the epiglottis does not close sufficiently during swallowing, which allows food to enter the airways. This can result in choking.
Emergency treatment for food stuck in throat causing esophageal blockage:
If it is an acute blockage, such as food or a foreign object, emergency treatment using an endoscope or surgery will be required to remove the blockage. Usually a scan called a contrast scan show a narrowed area of the food pipe.
When food is stuck in oesophagus,you should go to emergency room(ER) of hospital.If an obstruction interferes with breathing, call for emergency help immediately. If you're unable to swallow because you feel that food is stuck in your throat or chest, go to the nearest emergency department.
(8) Lack of adequate chewing, in turn, can lead to belly issues such as bloating, constipation, and even acid reflux, says Youkilis, "because the rest of your digestive system is having to do more work, you may feel that dreaded post-meal food coma when you don't take the time to chew."
(9) Intra-meal fluid intake, chewing insufficiency, higher tooth loss, and the consumption of spicy and fried food were associated with increased risk of IBS(Irritable Bowl Syndrome). Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
(10) Some accounts say ayurveda calls for chewing each bite of food a minimum of 30 times, or until it's liquefied, in order to help you absorb more nutrients from your food and keep your digestive process running smoothly.Not Chewing food can result in malabsorption of nutrients.
(11) Not chewing food can cause vomiting:
If you don't chew your food properly, your digestive system won't be able to break it down. Badly chewed food takes longer to digest and can cause bloating, gas and even nausea.
(12) Not chewing food properly can cause acid reflux(GERD).
Digestive problem: Not chewing food properly can lead to many digestive issues. It causes heartburn, constipation and acid reflux. Chewing is actually a pre-digestive process wherein you are already breaking down the food to be utilized for your body.
The symptoms of not digesting food properly are as follows:
•A feeling of fullness after eating just a few bites. •Vomiting undigested food eaten a few hours earlier. •Acid reflux.
• Changes in blood sugar level.
(13) Not chewing food properly can cause stomach pain.Food must be chewed so it can be swallowed easily and, when it arrives into the stomach, be properly digested. Chewing leaves food small enough for the gastric juices in the stomach to further degrade it and reduce it to microscopic size.
" Lack of adequate chewing, in turn, can lead to belly issues such as bloating, constipation, and even acid reflux, says Youkilis, and "because the rest of your digestive system is having to do more work, you may feel that dreaded post-meal food coma when you don't take the time to chew."
Common signs and symptoms of GERD include: •A burning sensation in your chest (heartburn), usually after eating, which might be worse at night or while lying down.
•Backwash (regurgitation) of food or sour liquid.
•Upper abdominal or chest pain.
(14) Gobbling your meal quickly under stressful circumstances such as during a meeting at work means diverting energy away from your digestive system, thus leading to fewer calories burnt, slower metabolism and a bigger waistline
Chewing your food slowly is one of the most powerful things you can do for better health and a flatter stomach.
Chewing food slowly helps reduce bloating and aids digestion.
While we worry about what to eat and when, what not to eat and why, obsess over dietary supplements and superfoods, and carefully negotiate the increasingly complex matter of what to eat for breakfast, we may be overlooking the simplest and most basic “how to” when it comes to healthy eating and weight loss,chewing our food slowly.
It is said that there is beauty in simplicity, but too often, and this is especially true when it comes to weight loss and nutrition, the simple gets overlooked. With obesity now a critical issue in the UAE and around the world, it seems the more serious the challenge with weight loss becomes, the more complicated and sophisticated the solutions are:
Chewing is one of the most functional aspects of our digestion, yet many of us eat quickly, hurrying through meals because of hectic schedules, or eating on the run between appointments.
Dr Harald Stossier, from the celebrity favoured Viva Mayr Clinic in Austria, has famously said:
“A well-chewed burger is better for your waistline than a badly chewed salad.”
The quickest way to a flatter stomach, then, without changing your diet or what you actually consume for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is to start paying attention to the food that’s in your mouth. Chewing slowly means it will take you longer to finish your meal, but it also means you will need smaller portions. Chewing properly gives your brain a chance to register when you are full, allowing you to stop eating instead of racing through a large meal only to realise you’re full after you have overeaten.
Gobbling your meal quickly under stressful circumstances such as during a meeting at work means diverting energy away from your digestive system, thus leading to fewer calories burnt, slower metabolism and a bigger waist line.
Here are the reasons why you should eat slowly:
(1) Your stomach does not have teeth. If you don’t chew your food properly, your digestive system won’t be able to break it down.
(2) Undigested food takes more space in your stomach than digested food and creates bloating, thus slowing down the entire digestive process.
(3) Chewing not only breaks down your food for your stomach, it actually is the beginning of the digestion process. Enzymes are released as you are chewing that actually begin to "prepare" the food so that your stomach has an easier job.
(4) Chewing slowly also helps increases the alkalinity of the food, which is extremely important. Many people suffer from acid reflux, heart burn and indigestion, and while some foods even if chewed well trigger these problems, it is important to note that the longer you chew, the less acid is formed.Thus it protects against hyperacidity.
(5) Eating fast leads to a lot of air being swallowed, causing unnecessary bloating, regardless of what you are eating, whether a fruit salad or chocolate bar.
(6) Eating slowly means that your body is more relaxed, which is essential for efficient digestion and a feeling of lightness.
Information compiled by :
Dr. Bhairavsinh Raol
