chewing on it
July 19, 2018
As I was eating a bowl of cherries one morning last week, I wondered how much we really need to chew our food.
When I was a child, there were characters in books who said that we should chew each bite 100 times before swallowing.
I tried it, and it seemed like overkill.
How much do you need to chew a cherry? An almond? A stalk of celery? A mushroom?
How much do you need to chew food to best extract its nutrients? What about gut health? Are there advantages to a rough chew of some items to help clean the gut and provide a substrate for the microbiome? How does chewing affect the transit of food through our bodies? Are there any disadvantages to thorough chewing?
I did some research online and discovered evidence that chewing food 20-40 times :
- Promotes the absorption of nutrients by the small intestine.
- Reduces food intake, helping with weight loss.
- Reduces gas and bloating.
Chewing starts the process of digestion, so some chew-promoters suggest that we chew even the softest of foods so that they get mixed well with saliva before swallowing.
I found no real information about the effects of chewing on the gut biota, although the pro-chewers theorize that extensive chewing speeds the transit of food through the gut and prevents fermentation and the overgrowth of undesirable biota. I also found nothing specific about fibrous foods.
I embarked on an experiment of thorough chewing. I paid attention while eating, chewing my food until it was reduced to the watery paste suggested by the pro-chewers. I found that this varied dramatically, with some foods being reduced in as few as 6 chews and others requiring close to 50.
It took a lot longer to eat. I felt satisfied after eating less food. The gas situation was promising.
I developed soreness in my jaw. I became constipated, even though I was consuming my normal high fiber diet. I got hemorrhoids, something that previously only happened right after having a baby.
This suggests to me that extensive chewing of fibrous foods might cause them to compact in the gut.