Are You Chewing Your Food Enough?
Eating food is an everyday occurrence, something we do three-ish times a day. You might even be eating whilst you scroll through this article. (If you are, excellent, as we have a little challenge for you a bit later on. If you’re not, consider grabbing a bite to eat.)
In this article:
Why Do We Need To Chew?
Digestion begins in the Mouth
Are You “Good and Hungry”?
The Theory of Fletcherism
The Three Benefits of Chewing More Slowly
How to Chew More
A lot of the time, we’re eating to satisfy our hunger, especially throughout the working week. We might grab a coffee and a muffin from the train station café on the way into work (hello commuting once more, dear “friend”) followed by a quick bite in the canteen or local sandwich shop, taken back to work to be eaten al desko. Then in the evening, we might collapse on the sofa with a hastily prepared meal before making it up to bed.
Some of the time, we might eat simply due to boredom, to make peace with a bad day or to celebrate a good one.
But either way, what all of this means is that we’re probably not eating mindfully enough in order to be chewing our food properly or enough.
Chewing is an important part of the digestive process and the benefits of proper chewing include better digestion, more nutrient absorption, less bloating and even lower calorie consumption.
So in this article, we’re going to look at why chewing is so important, or more specifically, why chewing more slowly and more often is important and how to chew food properly.
NB - Misophonia sufferers beware - all this talk of chewing might make you feel a bit irritable. Misophonia is a condition that elicits irritability, frustration, anger and sometimes even panic attacks in those that simply cannot bear the sound of someone eating, or breathing, loudly. So we apologise in advance!
Why Do We Need To Chew?
So, onto that little challenge we mentioned. Take a mouthful of food right now, and eat it as you normally would. How long did it stay in your mouth before you swallowed it? We’re willing to bet, not long. If you can, count the number of chews you take with your next mouthful. Was it five? Ten?
Most of us have a habit of taking a bite, giving it a few chews and then swallowing it, all within seconds. But there’s a lot to be gained by chewing our food slowly and for longer, keeping it in our mouths for as long as possible with more mindful chews.
Hands up if you remember the school experiment where you had to chew a piece of bread for what seemed like forever. The point was to notice that the savoury bread eventually became sweeter. This is all down to the process of digestion, which for mainly carbohydrates, begins in the mouth…
Probably quite obviously, we need to chew so that we don’t choke on large pieces of unchewed food passing from our mouths down into our stomachs.
But more than that, we need to chew our food in order to start the process of digestion in two ways - mechanical digestion from the act of chewing, as well as chemical digestion as food mixes with the saliva contained within the oral fluid in our mouths.
Digestion begins in the Mouth
Mechanical digestion begins to break down the food in our mouths so that we can swallow it, and so that it’s easier for the rest of the digestive tract to physically break down the food and extract nutrients from it.
Chemical digestion starts in the mouth due to the presence of the enzyme amylase, that breaks down carbohydrates into their constituent parts - sugars. Which is why that soggy bread from early school science lessons turned sweet as we chewed it.
In fact, most of the digestion of carbohydrates happens in the mouth rather than the stomach. If we don’t keep our food in our mouth long enough, partially digested carbohydrates will pass into the stomach where the stomach will have to work harder to digest it, leading to bloating, stomach pains and constipation.
Unlike carbohydrates, proteins and fats are broken down in the stomach, due to the presence of two different digestive enzymes - protease and lipase, that break down proteins and fats respectively.
Our digestive tract starts in our mouth then extends through the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine and then ends at our anus. Throughout the entire journey, from mouth to where it exits, our food is undergoing processes that involve digestion, assimilation (the removal of nutrients into the bloodstream) and absorption of water before being turned into waste.
It’s a complex system that needs looking after, with mindful, slow bites of food.
Are You “Good and Hungry”?
In the early 1900s, a food writer and academic called Horace Fletcher began to lecture on the power of mastication - mastication being the scientific word for chewing.
He earned himself the nickname The Great Masticator due to his argument that food should be masticated thoroughly “until liquefied” before swallowing. “Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate”, he was fond of saying.
His argument at the time was that his method of chewing food (and even liquids in order to mix them with saliva) “increased the amount of strength” someone could have, whilst at the same time decreasing the amount of food they would eat.
He advocated the following:
- Eat only when you have a good appetite, or you’re “good and hungry”
- Chew your food to a pulp before swallowing
- Do not drink in gulps, instead sip liquids
This then became known as the Theory of Fletcherism.
The Theory of Fletcherism
The Theory of Fletcherism might be a little outdated and extreme - who wants to chew so much that each bite is liquefied - but it does highlight the importance of chewing.
It also introduces the concept of emotional eating - that is, only eating when we’re hungry, rather than grazing and snacking when we’re not even feeling hungry. Fletcher advised against eating when we’re angry, stressed, upset or worried.
So this theory does have relevance today, and a lot of it is backed up by science…
The Three Benefits of Chewing More Slowly
So it’s clear, our digestive processes need work, and we can help that by chewing our food carefully. But why? What are the benefits of mindful chewing?
- We absorb nutrients more efficiently not least because carbohydrates begin their digestion journey in the mouth (and the longer our food stays there, the more digestion occurs). But also because the process of chewing stimulates saliva production as well as activating digestive processes in the stomach, pancreas and small intestine. If these organs don’t receive these messages by us swallowing our food too quickly, they’re ill-prepared and food will move more sluggishly. This means less efficient nutrient absorption.
- Our digestion is smoother for the same reasons - if our stomach, pancreas and small intestines are ready and prepared for food to digest, the process will be smoother meaning less indigestion, bloating, gas, pain, nausea, reflux, headaches and constipation.
- We tend to consume fewer calories if we eat more slowly. Studies show that if we slow down our chewing, we reduce the amount of food we need to eat, because our satiety trigger hormones (that tell us that we’re full up) are released sooner.
It’s generally accepted that “slow chewing” means chewing each mouthful around 32 times.
How to Chew More
Chewing 32 times per mouthful seems like an awful lot. But this is just a guide. The aim is to increase the amount of times you chew from your normal, ‘baseline’ number.
Start off mindfully, as the practice of mindful eating encourages us to slow down. It means avoiding all distractions when eating, including the TV, reading and scrolling on our phones. Concentrate fully on the food you’re eating, including its appearance, smell, mouthfeel and texture as well as its taste.
It's also beneficial to take small mouthfuls, so avoid overloading your cutlery or taking bites that completely fill your mouth. Chew with your mouth closed, using your tongue to move the food from one side of your mouth to the other.
Put down your cutlery between mouthfuls too, rather than loading up your fork or spoon ready for the next bite whilst you’re still eating your previous one. This will encourage slow, mindful eating.
Count your chews, and try to gradually increase them so that it becomes your new normal. You could well soon be noticing the difference in your digestion, with fewer digestive complaints and possibly even weight loss if you need to lose weight.
This article is not meant to treat or diagnose. Please visit your doctor for advice about any health concerns you may have.