Do you need to chew your food thoroughly? What happens if you swallow food without chewing

The quality of the products consumed is certainly important. The culture of its consumption also plays a huge role. The habit of snacking in minute breaks or in parallel with business, having dinner in front of the TV or eating too quickly, can significantly harm yourself. Moreover, it is interesting that harm is done not only to the gastrointestinal tract, but also cardiovascular system. Poor chewing can turn food into poison, weaken the liver, and even affect blood pressure levels. But how does insufficient chewing relate to hypertension?

How food is digested

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

After turning into a lump, the food passes into the stomach and is processed with hydrochloric acid and pepsin. They are needed to break down proteins into simple amino acid chains. Bile and enzyme-rich pancreatic juice in the duodenum convert large fat molecules into fatty acids that are available for absorption. Small intestine is the site of absorption of substances split to 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 “permitted” 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 for the essential energy supply of the body.

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 be involved in the synthesis of lipoproteins, 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 hypertension of the capillary bed.

The degree of assimilation of substances and the creation of the necessary concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood directly depend on how well the food is chewed.

This will control the development of hypertension and prevent a pathological increase in pressure as a result of poor-quality chewing and insufficient release of carbon dioxide in the process of carbohydrate utilization. To have a constantly normal concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood means to protect yourself from pressure surges and the development of persistent hypertension, its formidable complications.

Lack of time and opportunity

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, we do not pay attention to every meal. After 50, we already have time, but there are no more opportunities to chew thoroughly with artificial teeth. In fact, in this way we slowly but surely doom ourselves to illness.

Poor chewing and swallowing pieces lead to the fact that the digestion process becomes inferior and even dangerous to health. It's all about the disruption of digestion reactions. In the mouth, instead of breaking 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 hydrochloric acid in the stomach cannot process it to process proteins into amino acids.

This mucus-like mass also covers the walls of the stomach, disrupting normal gastric digestion. As a consequence of this, proteins remain in their original unsplit state, carbohydrates remain in the form of a thick mass. AT duodenum the lump gets as dense as in the stomach. A significant part of the acid is also thrown into it. It violates the alkaline environment of this section of the gastrointestinal tract, necessary for the processes of digestion. The effect of bile and pancreatic juices under such conditions is fragmentary.

All due to the fact that such a slimy lump does not lend itself 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, provoke 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 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 constrict due to the lack of carbon dioxide, which we should have received in the process of normal digestion.

Chewing experiment

To simplify the understanding of the importance of proper chewing, it is worth conducting an elementary experiment. It consists in long chewing of a piece of black bread. Its initial taste is sour without sweetness. When gradually chewed and mixed with saliva, a piece of this bread will begin to develop an increasingly sweet taste.

It's all about the breakdown of carbohydrates, which, in their original chemical structure, do not have a sweet taste. Simple carbohydrates, which come from the conversion of complex carbohydrate molecules with saliva, give the product its sweetness. But this does not happen immediately, but only after an enhanced chewing process.

So exactly 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 let food go through this initial stage of processing by 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 must necessarily take enough time for the normal chewing of each piece.
  • Meals should always be carried out in a pleasant atmosphere, without worries and stress, extraneous unnecessary thoughts.
  • Solid food should become as liquid as possible already in the oral cavity. Interestingly, liquid foods also need to be chewed to allow enough saliva time to secrete and allow it to mix evenly with it.

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

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

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

If it is impossible to fully chew due to problems with the teeth, it is necessary to deal with their treatment and restoration. This will give life without pain, significantly improve the condition of the oral cavity and the entire gastrointestinal tract.


Yes, we are not used to long gatherings at the table and such difficulties with chewing pieces by the minute. But in fact, the habit of eating slowly develops quickly enough and is not so unpleasant. It’s just worth the first time to control yourself a little and make each meal unhurried with an attentive attitude to the consumption of each piece or spoon of the product.

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

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

People eat food quickly, not having time to enjoy either its taste or the very process of satisfying hunger, because 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.

Eating fast and on the go is a bad habit!

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

Thorough chewing of food 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 with food.

Thorough chewing as a way to lose weight

Thorough chewing as a method of losing weight

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

Slow eating, chewing it thoroughly allow you to leave the place of the meal with a slight feeling of hunger, avoiding overeating - this allows you to forget about problems with being overweight.

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

Yogis, known for their long lifespan, say: "Eat liquid food, drink solid food." It should be understood as follows: 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 feel full faster than people who chew less.

This is due to the fact that when food enters the mouth, the body starts a special hormone responsible for saturation. It enters the brain twenty minutes after the start of a meal, so eating slowly makes it possible to saturate with less food than eating it quickly.

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

Thorough chewing allows a person to eat the amount of food that he needs and avoid overeating. Overeating is a well-known cause of overweight problems, because as a result of the rapid absorption of food, an amount of food enters the stomach that exceeds its volume and therefore the organ stretches, becoming larger and larger over time, forcing a person to eat more and more.

Correct eating habits

40 times - how much you need to chew food

There are many tips on how long to chew each serving of food. In practice, any person can independently determine the time that he spends on chewing one piece of food, simply chewing it until it is impossible to determine what kind of food got into the mouth before.

It is quite optimal to experience food from 30 to 40 times per serving that enters the mouth.

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

A few tips for learning to chew your food more thoroughly:

  1. use chopsticks if necessary
  2. in the process of eating food, sit upright, make sure that your breathing is even and deep
  3. do not be distracted, be fully concentrated on the process of eating
  4. eat in a designated area
  5. 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 contributes to good digestion. In order to learn to chew slowly, there are some practical tips.

Thorough chewing of food is a good habit, a necessity that has a really good effect on the body. It allows you not to overeat, get full faster with less food, and makes it more effective.

But what not to do immediately after eating, the thematic video will tell:


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Each person is given teeth to grind food. By chewing, we create a food bolus, make it more passable through the digestive tract, and also start digestion. Yes, yes, food begins to “cook” not somewhere in the bowels of the stomach, but already in our mouth.

But modern man lives in turmoil. To speed up the absorption of food, he drinks solid food with drinks and ... chews very little. And often has problems with the digestive system, teeth and excess weight. But that's not all.

He can unsuccessfully fight gluttony - overeating, food addictions, attachment to sweet, fatty - and at the same time experiences a breakdown from a lack of energy. It's just amazing! Most people overeat, and just as many people feel exhausted. One of the important reasons for all these sad states is the inability to properly chew food.

“There are other types of gluttony ... hasty eating - a person tries to quickly fill the womb and swallows food without chewing, like a turkey ...”

What happens when a person chews food a little

Chew a little - how much? In order for a person to have digestion in principle, it is necessary to chew each piece at least 32 times. Accordingly, less than this is not enough.

  1. It is in the mouth that the analysis of the quality of food takes place. When we chew food a little, then the receptors of the oral cavity “do not understand” why everything flies by so quickly and imperceptibly, the signal to the brain about saturation comes very late. From here we get the desire to eat more in order to get enough of the taste.
  2. The grinding of food is very meager, so the digestive organs are under extreme stress in order to somehow process what is swallowed.
  3. Carbohydrate foods (bread, cereals, vegetables and fruits) do not have time to be processed by saliva, and therefore by the enzymes that digest these types of food - amylase and maltase. Yes, there is also amylase in the pancreatic juice, but it is secondary compared to that produced by the salivary glands. But it's not just the enzymes. Saliva is also rich in other chemicals that create the ideal pH environment for digestion to begin. This is an alkaline environment, which is supported by bicarbonates, phosphates of saliva. Saliva chlorides activate the production of enzymes. Thus, already in the mouth there is a chemical processing of food, with a lack of which digestion goes "at random".
  4. Nutrients are absorbed in small quantities, the body receives less energy. Quick chewing deprives the body of vitamins and minerals, which are rich in quality food.
  5. The stomach, full of large pieces, presses on the diaphragm, resulting in an increased load on the heart.
  6. Fermentation processes are launched, as a result of which bloating, flatulence and other disorders appear. Insufficient chewing is fertile ground for the development of gastritis, gastroduodenitis, enteritis, colitis, enterocolitis.
  7. When a person quickly absorbs food, forgetting to chew for a long time, he needs more food to achieve a feeling of fullness.
  8. Heaviness in the stomach reduces performance.
  9. Improper digestion worsens the condition of the skin.
  10. Appears overweight.
  11. Without loading your “chewing apparatus” properly, a person loses the health of gums and teeth - blood circulation is insufficient, salivation, which regulates mineral metabolism in the oral cavity, is also lacking. This can be seen especially clearly in children. The problem is relevant today when a child receives grated food after 8 months of life, even up to 3 years. Often all the teeth of such children are subject to extraction. If the child simply chews a little, orthodontic problems may await him in the future.

From bookBishop Barnabas (Belyaev)
Fundamentals of the art of holiness. Volume II

Many digestive disorders depend on the wrong way of eating: insufficient chewing of food, insufficient wetting of food with saliva, too hasty swallowing - all this, unfortunately, happens at every step. “Well chewed is half cooked,” says a well-known proverb. Insufficient chewing not only puts double work on the stomach, but also makes it extremely difficult for food to be dissolved by gastric juice.

Rough pieces strongly irritate the walls of the stomach. Many people who lost their teeth and were deprived of the opportunity to chew the remains of their teeth began to chew well only after inserting artificial teeth, and in this way got rid of the stomach pains they used to complain about.

Saliva is abundantly secreted when food is chewed and mixed with it, which is the first step towards turning food into material suitable for assimilation by the body. So, for example, the starch of bread is converted by saliva into sugar and dextrin. Without an admixture of saliva, food enters the stomach unprepared for digestion and is an unnecessary burden for the stomach. Thereby soups, cereals and generally soft foods are often hard to digest since they are usually swallowed immediately, without mixing with saliva. In view of this, when eating liquid or mushy food, one must also chew bread at the same time; it is still better to stick to such foods, which, by their consistency, require chewing and mixing with saliva in order to get into the stomach without causing upset in it.

What happens when a person chews food for a long time?

By long chewing, we conditionally call the normal chewing of the contents of a tablespoon in the amount of 32 times. Although it's not as long as it seems.

Eastern sages, for example, advised chewing food up to 150 times, frivolously promising those who eat like this eternal life. famous American propagandist healthy lifestyle During his lifetime, Horatio Fletcher practiced chewing each bite about 100 times. Fletcher, who suffered from obesity, lost 29 kilograms and began to consume food 3 times less than before. He created his own system of therapeutic chewing, which was named after his last name - Fletcherism. In his experiments, Horatio started chewing food at 32 times, but then moved on to 100. In his old age, he was fond of daily competitions with physical education students, and as the media describe, he always won, saying: "Nature punishes those who chew little."

By chewing food for a long time, we improve the functioning of our body:

  1. When a person chews each piece of a serving for a long time, carbohydrates finally begin to be digested in the mouth.
  2. Thorough physical grinding of food during long chewing facilitates the digestion of fats and proteins.
  3. By chewing food for a long time, a person eats up faster, he needs several times less food.
  4. Receptors begin to feel the true taste of products: cloying confectionery, excessive fat content, oversalting, the presence of vegetable fats and the taste of chemical additives. By the way, the combination of flavors in fast food is just aimed at quick chewing - a person instantly feels the brightest taste. If you hold a piece in your mouth longer and chew it well, the taste of such dishes deteriorates many times over. But the taste of natural high-quality products without amplifiers and other hazards, on the contrary, is revealed with long chewing.
  5. In most cases, with long chewing, a person completely gets rid of problems with the gastrointestinal tract - gastritis, heaviness in the stomach, inflammation in the intestines, flatulence, constipation, fecal plugs.
  6. Eating with long chewing steadily and fairly quickly reduces weight.
  7. Long-term and high-quality work of masticatory muscles surprisingly affects the functioning nervous system- concentration increases, emotional overstrain is removed.
  8. Teeth and gums get the proper load, their blood supply improves. In addition, the roots of the teeth are reflexively connected with the internal organs - by affecting the blood circulation in the oral cavity, we heal the entire body. With long chewing, more saliva is produced, which means more lysozyme, which protects teeth from caries.
  9. Excessive load on the heart from overeating falls, a feeling of lightness appears.
  10. The body gets more energy from food without spending a huge amount of energy trying to digest huge pieces. Nutrients are better absorbed, working capacity increases.
  11. Metabolism improves, general immunity increases.
  12. The liver stops working for wear and tear, coping with toxins from underdigested food.
  13. The condition of the skin improves.

How to learn to chew food for a long time?

If a person used to chew each part of a serving 5-7 times, then an increase in chewing movements to 20 will already give lightness to the stomach, which a person will begin to feel after the first such meal. Then gradually it is necessary to increase the number of chewing movements up to 32.

There are some rules and tips "experienced" in the art of healthy and even healing long chewing.

  1. Do not drink food with water. This does not mean that you have to eat a sandwich without tea if you are not used to it. First, carefully chew and swallow, and only then pull your hand to the mug.
  2. We use the count up to 32. Yes, you have to count the first time. It's much easier to do it the next day. If you remember the goal - to make solid food liquid - then for a while you can free yourself from counting. Rush and liquid food - cereals, soups, juicy foods - usually knocks out of the rut. In this case:
    1. we start counting if we catch ourselves in quick chewing
    2. add bread (even better - hard bread)
    3. learning to taste liquid food from tasters
    4. don't let food "run away" until it's been in the mouth enough
  3. We load the spoon well and use a 30-second hourglass to chew the contents of the spoon.
  4. Chew and don't worry. There is no need to be sad if on some vain day it was not possible to follow the goal of chewing food well at the meal. This does not mean that everything is gone. You can return to the practice of therapeutic chewing at any time, even remembering it on the last spoonful of garnish.

Long chewing is indispensable during fasting when the quality of food changes. It allows you to feel full faster and eat less food. Getting used to chewing thoroughly, we understand that the process of eating food is a lot of work that requires attention, concentration, and a minimum of talking at the table. And if we are in a hurry somewhere and we need to eat very quickly, here the jaws need training to move quickly.

Those who learn about the science of chewing often think that a lot of time is spent on it. Answer: no. The number of conversations, watched programs at the table, as well as the number of products consumed are reduced. The result is almost the same time period for a meal as with quick chewing. If a person again returns to swallowing food in a piece, practically without chewing, he feels “bricks” in the stomach after eating, he lacks a feeling of lightness. This allows you to practice the art of chewing again and move towards health, victory over overeating and ideal weight. But this, perhaps, is not the main thing. Long chewing allows you to have a different attitude, even to what is given to us today.

Digestive problems are the fate of many unfortunates in our time. Flatulence, constipation, diarrhea literally poison life. Anyone who does not have such problems will never understand a patient with indigestion. But he has pain, discomfort, irritability, which eventually leads to depression.

People with weak intestinal motility are worried about the feeling of fullness, colic, abdominal cramps. All this is superimposed on an unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling associated with the retention of gases or their excessive release to the outside. This seems ridiculous to healthy people, but those who have encountered and have been facing these manifestations of an intestinal ailment for a long time are not laughing.

Digestive problems are associated with many diseases: ulcers, gastritis, cholecystitis, hepatitis, gallstone disease, pancreatitis, dysbacteriosis, intestinal infections, tumors. Whatever ailment "captures" the body, its consequences will negatively affect the metabolism and the work of the gastrointestinal tract. People with such diseases should always monitor their diet. They are simply obliged to maintain a diet, eat regularly and diversified, consume only natural products in the right combination and, of course, support the body with the right medicines. But there is another important point.

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

What happens in the mouth?

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

Food bolus - food that has undergone light processing in the mouth. It enters the oral cavity, crushed and wetted with saliva, subjected to a weak chemical attack. 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 move freely along the digestive tract and be processed from all sides by enzymes.

The processing of food in the mouth is based on the main stage - chewing. That's why it's so important. At no other stage of digestion will there be a similar processing of the food bolus. If you have chewed your food badly, neither the stomach nor the intestines will do it for you. In them, a lump of food is exposed only to acids and enzymes. There can be no talk of mechanical processing of food. The digestive system can do no more than crush food boluses and turn them over.

Chew badly - get problems

Many swallow large pieces, it seems to them that nothing terrible is happening. This is not so: the esophagus, stomach, intestines suffer. They have to pretty much "sweat" to push a piece into subsequent sections, 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 hardly penetrate into the bowels of food pieces. And this is fraught with unpleasant consequences.

  1. Injury to the esophagus. Large unchewed pieces first enter the esophagus. They can easily injure him. Such a development of events will worsen your condition, turn eating food into a painful process.
  2. Lack of nutrients. A large food piece does not lend itself well to enzymatic processing, 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.
  3. Reproduction of bacteria. Not only does poor chewing of food threaten a deficient condition, it also promotes the growth of harmful bacteria. Countless hordes of microorganism tend to penetrate our body with food. Undoubtedly, the stomach with the help of hydrochloric acid kills uninvited guests, but not all. 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. Safely, they enter the next digestive stage. If large pieces are swallowed, the stomach does not have time to kill all the bacteria in the allotted time. Inside the food bolus, microorganisms will remain alive and unharmed. What happens next? Pieces with armies of bacteria enter the intestines, in favorable conditions for their reproduction. There they grow in numbers and cause intestinal infections and dysbacteriosis.

Chew and don't worry

Chewing is an integral part of the digestive process that has evolved over thousands of years. Our digestive system is designed to keep food in our mouths for a relatively long time. You are chewing on a tasty piece, and the language recipes at this time 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, intestines to prepare for 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 has already been prepared. They process the swallowed piece in order to 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 receptors of the tongue did not have time to recognize. Accordingly, no signals will be sent to the brain, and the digestive tract will not prepare for the intake 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, to whom guests suddenly came. It is unlikely that he will have time to properly digest food. Some vitamins and other microelements will "pass by".

If you ate once or twice on the go, it's okay. Another thing is if such an attitude to the digestive process has become a habit with you. It is unacceptable to treat your own body negligently!

Why do we chew badly?

Chewing "poor quality" has several reasons: habit, diseases in the oral cavity, lack of teeth.

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

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

Our digestion is a mechanism that sometimes fails. Often we ourselves are to blame for this, because we do not monitor what we eat and how we eat. Pay attention to the manner of your chewing and maybe then a lot will be revealed to you. Take care of your health, because it should be enough for a lifetime!

Research scientists have proven that long and thorough chewing of food can have a positive effect on the body. Among the main advantages are the following:

1. The process of digestion is easier and faster. When food is finely ground and moistened with plenty of saliva, it is much easier for it to move through the alimentary tract. Therefore, the process of its digestion proceeds faster.

2. Weight loss. If you chew each bite well, then the body will be saturated much faster. So you eat much less. This is due to the fact that in the process of chewing, special substances are released in the brain that control appetite. You just don't want to eat too much.

3. Gums become stronger. Chewing is a kind of gymnastics for the gums. It improves blood flow, resulting in healthier and stronger gums.

4. The harmful effects of acids on tooth enamel are neutralized. Saliva, which is produced in the process of chewing food, significantly softens the aggressive effects of acids. A long lunch will help maintain the beauty and health of your teeth.

Eating small, well-chewed portions of food allows you to improve the whole body as a whole. In addition, you will have time to relax a little and relax at lunch.

How to properly chew food?

If you decide to start chewing food correctly, then you should listen to the following recommendations:

1. Do not immediately start chewing for a long time. In the first week, give each piece 30 seconds. In the second week, this time can be increased to 45 seconds, and in the third to a minute.

2. It is necessary to take food in a quiet place where there is no noise and fuss that would distract you from the meal.

By following these simple rules, you can get rid of many health problems. But for this, you just need to take your time and eat right.

It only brings benefits. Scientists have long proven this statement. In various research centers, observations were made that answered the question: why do we need to chew food thoroughly. If the food does not linger in the mouth and is not prepared quickly goes through the esophagus to the stomach, a lot of problems threaten health. Let us highlight a number of reasons why food should be carefully and slowly grind.

Chewing allows you to quickly lose weight

It may seem strange, but by chewing food thoroughly, we really help the body control the process of absorption of food. And this contributes to rapid weight loss. As a rule, a person gains excess weight if he overeats. In 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 not crushed pieces to the stomach. As a result, much more food is absorbed than the body needs to saturate.

If you chew food thoughtfully, slowly, then the likelihood of losing weight increases. By carefully grinding food to a mushy state, it is quite possible to get enough of small volumes, thereby avoiding overeating. It also leads to weight gain. When the hormone histamine begins to be produced, the brain receives a signal, a feeling of fullness occurs. The maximum concentration of histamine is reached approximately 20 minutes after the start of the meal. With slow chewing 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.

Research examples

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

So, chewing food thoroughly, you help the body not only keep weight under control, the work of the gastrointestinal tract is also stabilized, and the possibility of harmful deposits - toxins, toxins, stones - is minimized.

Digestion begins in the mouth

A large number of people tend to think that food begins to be processed, broken down, as soon as it enters the stomach. This is a wrong opinion. Already in the oral cavity, the digestive process begins, which is why food must be thoroughly chewed. Our salivary glands perceive the process of chewing as a signal for the production of saliva, and a "go-ahead" is given to the stomach so that it prepares for a meal. How 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 the stomach and then the intestines have to work. Saliva begins the breakdown of carbohydrates and starch into simpler glucose. Teeth in the process of digestion play an initial role. They grind food to gruel, then it will be much easier for the digestive tract to process it.

Don't overload your digestive system

This point follows smoothly from the previous one. You need to chew food thoroughly, this will not only contribute to 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. It also helps to get rid of the unpleasant sensations of bloating and heaviness after eating. Gastrointestinal tract from careful chewing gets the maximum benefit. In large pieces, the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach can be injured, which 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 excreted from the body without difficulty.

Help digestion

When answering the question why food should 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. The mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach will be easier to work with such a consistency. Large pieces can linger in the intestines for a long time until they are fully digested. This often causes severe pain in a stomach. Also, full chewing contributes to the fact that the body quickly absorbs small foods, while the blood receives more essential substances and enzymes. Lumps are processed with difficulty, so saturation with vitamins, proteins, microelements and other useful substances does not occur in full.

After poorly chewed and not sufficiently moistened with saliva food enters the digestive system, it becomes a breeding ground for microorganisms and bacteria. Already in the mouth, saliva processes 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 soak them. This means that the bacteria located there remain alive and then freely enter the intestine. There they intensively multiply and provoke dangerous intestinal infections, diseases, including dysbacteriosis.

Beneficial effect 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 whole 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. With the rapid absorption of food, the heartbeat accelerates by about 10 beats per minute. Large lumps, being in the stomach, cannot be distributed there evenly, so there is pressure on the diaphragm. This significantly affects the work of the heart muscle, the rhythm. With a calm, slow, prolonged chewing, the heart rate will always be normal.

Help for all organs

With careful chewing, the gums are strengthened. Hard foods put a lot of stress on our teeth and gums. At the same time, an excellent training takes place, blood flow to the tissues increases. The impact of acids on the enamel is significantly reduced with intensive chewing, because more saliva is produced. The longer we chew, the more saliva. It neutralizes acid, fights microbes, has a positive effect on enamel, and strengthens teeth.

Why is it important to chew food thoroughly? Here it is worth saying that prolonged processing of food in the mouth helps to relieve nervous tension. Prolonged chewing helps to concentrate, increase efficiency.

Processing food in the mouth reduces the risks of intoxication to a large extent. Lysozyme found in saliva has antibacterial properties. It destroys various microbes before they enter the body. Therefore, before swallowing, food must be saturated with its own saliva.

Improving the palatability of food

With careful chewing, a person reveals for himself all the richness of the aromas and taste of food. This is due to saliva. As already mentioned, it breaks down pieces into simple sugars with its enzymes. The taste buds that are on the tongue begin to respond better to the constituent components. More refined impulses are sent to the brain, a sharper enjoyment of taste comes.

How long do you need to chew food

We briefly answered the question of why it is necessary to chew food thoroughly, now we will find out how long it takes to do this? There is no single answer. It depends on how and from what the dish is prepared, in general, to what type it is attributed. For example, soups and mashed potatoes do not make sense to chew for a long time. The former contain a lot of water, while the latter already resemble the consistency of a mass that normally fills our stomach.

One has only to say that it is necessary to saturate food with saliva in any case. For proper processing of 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 slurry, and the full disclosure of taste is felt.

Conclusions: briefly about the main

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

For stimulationwork of the pancreas and stomach. The food entering the mouth gives a signal to the brain, which in turn digestive system. Acids and enzymes necessary for the process of digestion begin to be produced. Thorough chewing enhances the signal, as a consequence of the amount of enzymes for processing food. This improves the digestive process.

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

Saliva. 98% consists of water, 2% - vitamins, minerals, enzymes. In the process of 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 whole organism 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 during chewing can reach 100 kg, while the blood flow increases, the likelihood of periodontal disease decreases.

Diaphragm pressure is reduced. Everyone felt how difficult it is for a large piece to pass through the esophagus, making its way to the digestive tract. This feels like a load on the diaphragm. The heart is next door.

weight loss. With careful processing of food, taste buds are more quickly satisfied, and a feeling of fullness comes. Overeating in this case is excluded, namely, it becomes the cause of weight gain.

Unified State Examination question: “Why should food be chewed thoroughly”?

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

  • Thoroughly chewed food is rapidly saturated with digestive juice.
  • With careful chewing, the digestion process is accelerated, while complex insoluble organic substances turn into less complex ones, are absorbed into the lymph and blood.

So, we answered the question of the Unified State Examination “Why food should be chewed thoroughly” simply and in detail. More concise answers are also given. Our information will help prepare for the answer to this question, and will also be instructive for all readers.

Many people probably know that food should be chewed thoroughly, but not everyone knows exactly what effect this has on the body. Meanwhile, the benefits of slowly eating food have been scientifically proven. Numerous studies by scientists from different countries have confirmed that the rapid chewing and swallowing of food can lead to many health problems. Consider the main reasons why you need to chew your food well.

Reason #1. Chewing food thoroughly helps you lose weight

Perhaps some will be skeptical of this statement, but it is true. Eating the right food will help you lose weight easily. Weight gain in most cases is due to overeating, it contributes to the hasty consumption of food. A person, trying to get enough quickly, pays little attention to chewing food, swallows it poorly chopped, as a result, eats more than the body really needs.

Chewing quality pieces of food makes it possible to get enough of a small amount of food and prevents overeating. This is due to the fact that when chewing, histamine begins to be produced, which, reaching the brain, gives it a signal of saturation. However, this happens only twenty minutes after the meal was started. If a person eats slowly, during these twenty minutes he will eat less food and experience satiety from fewer calories. If the consumption of food will occur quickly, before the brain receives a signal of satiety, a lot will be eaten. In addition to its main purpose, histamine also improves metabolism, which accelerates the burning of calories.

Studies by Chinese scientists also speak in favor of a leisurely meal. They recruited a group of men. Half of them were asked to chew each piece of food 15 times, while the rest were asked to chew each portion of food sent to the mouth 40 times. An hour and a half later, a blood test was taken from the men, it showed that those who chewed more times had much less hunger hormone (herelin) than those who ate quickly. Thus, it has been proven that a leisurely meal gives an even longer feeling of satiety.

Slow food intake also contributes because it improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and prevents the formation of harmful deposits in the intestines - toxins, fecal stones, toxins.

In addition, as soon as food enters the mouth, the brain begins to send signals to the pancreas and stomach, forcing them to produce enzymes and digestive acids. The longer the food is present in the mouth, the stronger the signals sent will be. Stronger and longer signals will lead to the production of gastric juices and enzymes in large quantities, as a result, food will be digested faster and better.

Also, large pieces of food lead to the reproduction of harmful microorganisms and bacteria. The fact is that well-ground food is disinfected by hydrochloric acid present in gastric juice, gastric juice does not completely penetrate into large particles, therefore the bacteria contained in them remain unharmed and enter the intestines in this form. There they begin to actively multiply, leading to dysbacteriosis or intestinal infections.

Reason number 3. Improving the functioning of the body

High-quality, long-term chewing of food affects favorably not only the digestive system, but also the whole body. Leisurely eating food affects a person as follows:

  • Reduces stress on the heart. With the rapid absorption of food, the pulse quickens by at least ten beats. In addition, the stomach, filled with large pieces of food, presses on the diaphragm, which in turn affects the heart.
  • Strengthens gums. When chewing one or another type of food, the gums and teeth are subjected to a load of twenty to one hundred and twenty kilograms. This not only trains them, but also improves blood flow to the tissues.
  • Reduces the effect of acids on tooth enamel. As you know, when chewing, saliva is produced, and with prolonged chewing, it is released in large quantities, this neutralizes the action of acids, and, consequently, protects the enamel from damage. In addition, saliva contains Na, Ca and F, which strengthen the teeth.
  • Relieves neuro-emotional stress It also improves performance and focus.
  • Provides the body with plenty of energy. Doctors of the East are convinced of this, they are of the opinion that the tongue absorbs most of the energy of the consumed products, therefore, the longer the food stays in the mouth, the more energy the body can receive.
  • Reduces the risk of poisoning. Lysozyme is present in saliva. This substance is capable of destroying many bacteria, therefore, the better the food is processed with saliva, the less likely it will be poisoned.

Surely, every person in childhood was taught to eat slowly, chewing food thoroughly. Kids, as a rule, do not pay much attention to such comments. And the habit of chewing slowly is not inculcated. But this is not just a tribute to etiquette, it is, first of all, necessary for health.

Reasons why you need to chew your food thoroughly

There are several main reasons why you should eat carefully, not on the run.

Reason #1 - Benefits for the digestive system

From thorough and prolonged chewing, the entire digestive system benefits.. The process of absorption of food, its digestion consists of many stages. How this process begins will depend on its further course. And it starts with chewing.

As soon as a person is going to, or begins to eat, saliva is produced in him. Food, getting into the oral cavity, is wetted by saliva, which means it is subjected to light chemical treatment. But food needs to be crushed - this is the primary task assigned to the oral cavity, crushing the lump of food so that it can move freely further into the esophagus.

It is important, but with slow chewing, pieces of food acquire the necessary temperature, and this ensures the comfortable operation of other digestive organs. Bacteria and harmful microorganisms can multiply in unchewed pieces of food.

Once in the stomach, the food is treated with hydrochloric acid for disinfection, if the food is not crushed well enough, the juice will not penetrate into the piece. And this is a “great” opportunity for bacteria to multiply, which leads to infections and poisoning.

Based on medical observations, it is safe to say that insufficient chewing of food leads to such diseases:

But this is not only inconvenience and pain. Ailments lead to depression, bring suffering. Any disease negatively affects the metabolism and the state of the whole organism as a whole. People with such diseases should not only monitor the contents of their diet, but also its process.

Reason #2 - Benefits for the Whole Body

Eating food slowly, a person saturates his body, and brings him significant help and benefits. And this applies not only to the digestive organs, but also to other systems and organs.

According to scientists, with slow and thorough chewing, the following happens:

Reason #3 - Benefits for Weight Loss

Someone will not believe such a statement, someone will laugh, but what a leisurely meal helps in the fight against excess weight is a scientifically proven fact. Careful chewing can provide not only easy, but also pleasant weight loss.

Fat deposits are most often accumulated from overeating, and this is the result of rapid consumption. food and hastily swallowing it.

Having eaten a pie on the run for two "bites", a person dooms himself to the fact that soon the feeling of hunger will again remind of itself with tripled force. As a result, much more food is consumed than the body needs.

In the case of high-quality grinding of pieces of food, it becomes possible to satisfy hunger with a small portion of food, and therefore prevent overeating.

As soon as food enters the mouth, a person begins to produce histamine, the task of which is to enter the brain and signal a feeling of fullness. This takes approximately half an hour. Eating slowly, during this time a person uses less food, and get enough of a small amount of calories. With fast food intake, you can eat a lot in 30 minutes.

Slow processing of food in the mouth contributes to weight loss also because it ensures the quality of the digestive organs, thereby preventing the formation of unnecessary deposits.

The more careless the chewing process, the more likely the risk of gaining weight.

Scientists from China and Japan conducted an interesting experiment on the benefits of thorough chewing, devoting several years to this study. Having recruited a group of 5 thousand volunteers, they divided them into several subgroups, each of which must chew the food received with different intensity: some faster, others slower. There were 5 such subgroups: “normal chewing pace”, “fast chewing pace”, “very fast”, “slow” and “very slow chewing pace”. After some time, the subjects took blood for analysis. He showed that the part that chewed more slowly had significantly less hunger hormone than the part that ate food quickly.

Bottom line: On average, a participant in the "fast pace" group gained several kilograms more weight than a participant in the "slow pace" group.

How much to chew?

Many times, hearing the phrase “chew thoroughly”, you involuntarily think, ? It is difficult to name a specific number, because it depends on the type of dish, the method of its preparation, and the type of ingredients.

There are many opinions about the exact number of chewing movements.

  • Experts believe that on average, it takes 30 to 40 movements to salivate hard pieces of food.
  • Crackers, nuts, lightly fried meat should be chewed even more thoroughly, at least 50 times.
  • For soft food (porridge, soup, mashed potatoes), 10 times is enough.
  • The sages of the East have their own theory, it says that a person who chews 50 times will be healthy, one who does it 100 times will be a long-liver, and one who is not lazy and makes 150 movements will be immortal.

Yoga practitioners are known to live long lives following their recommendations, even chewing fluids. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but such a fact has scientific rationale: liquid saturated with saliva is better absorbed without burdening the stomach.

Chewing tea or milk may not be necessary, but you can hold the liquid in your mouth for a while and then swallow it little by little.

According to nutritionists, you need to chew pieces of food until the taste of it ceases to be felt. Food should become a liquid and homogeneous slurry in consistency.

Quick snacks cause not only some diseases, but also a loss of taste sensations.

The slower the food is chewed, the more desirable and tasty it becomes. Eating slowly, carefully chewing seemingly familiar food, there is a chance to discover new taste sensations.

How to learn the right and healthy pace of the meal?

It is enough to follow simple rules:

  • You need to plan the time for eating, try to eat according to the regimen.
  • Eat calmly and enjoy.
  • It is better to get up early in the morning so that there is time for breakfast.
  • It is better to have a meal in a specially designated place for this.
  • While eating, focus only on it, not being distracted by conversations, TV, reading.
  • Put food in your mouth in small pieces.
  • While eating, take the correct posture: sit without slouching, breathe deeply.
  • Make as many chewing movements until the piece becomes a homogeneous liquid slurry, and the taste is not felt.
  • Choose if possible delicious food. For prolonged chewing, a large amount of saliva is needed, if the food is tasteless, then the chewing process will become unpleasant and irritating, salivation will stop.
  • Try to think about the fact that every little piece is beneficial to the whole body. Positive emotions have a beneficial charge, help to improve mood.

Why does a person grind food poorly during a meal?

There are a number of circumstances for this. Having understood the reasons, you can find a solution how to avoid them:

The process of digestion cannot proceed by itself. A person controls it, and is often to blame for the fact that failures occur in the body. Paying close attention to how he eats, everyone can try to save their health.