Chewing food. Consequences of poor chewing of food. Digestion: why it is so important to chew properly What will happen if you chew food badly

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

Rapid ingestion of food causes the development caries, gastritis, stomach ulcers and obesity. The longer we chew food, the less we eat, which means we lose weight faster. As studies by scientists have 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 chewing food thoroughly is the cheapest way to lose weight. After all, in this way the average person can achieve the loss of extra 10 kg per year. However, in this way, those who prefer to follow a diet consisting of foods that do not need to be chewed will not be able to lose weight. For example, those who eat exclusively yogurt, puree soup, juices and liquid cereals.

During the experiments, scientists found that who is longer chews, he eats up faster. In the hypothalamus of our brain there are neurons that need the hormone histamine, which begins to be produced only after a person begins to chew. Histamine sends satiety signals to neurons in the brain. But these signals reach the hypothalamus only after 20 minutes from the beginning of the meal, so until this time the person continues to eat. And if he swallows food quickly and in large chunks, then before the signal of saturation is transmitted, he already manages to gain extra calories.

In case of careful chewing food, we do not give the body the opportunity to overeat. Histamine not only serves to signal satiety, but also improves metabolism. Therefore, paying attention to chewing, a person not only begins to eat less, but also helps to accelerate the process of burning extra calories.

To lose weight, you need to eat slowly and chew thoroughly food, and stop eating should leave some free space in the stomach. As the Japanese advise, eat until you have eight parts of the stomach full out of ten. When a person constantly overeats, his stomach stretches, and more food is needed to fill it. So there is a vicious, harmful to the harmony of the figure and health vicious circle. 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.

Thorough chewing of food favors more fast digestion and absorption of food. After all, digestion does not begin in the stomach, but in. The better you chew food, the more it interacts with saliva. Saliva contains a protein - amylase, which promotes the breakdown of complex carbohydrates into simple ones already in the mouth. In addition, saliva is rich in various enzymes, hormones, vitamins and biologically active substances that contribute to better chewing of food and its rapid movement through the digestive tract.

Prolonged chewing of food releases large amount of saliva, which favorably affects not only digestion, but also improves the condition of the teeth. The components of saliva form a protective film on the teeth and strengthen the enamel of the teeth. Chewing for teeth and gums is a kind of muscle training in the gym. When chewing solid food, strong pressure is exerted on the teeth, which increases the blood supply to the gums and teeth, which is the prevention of periodontal disease. To load the gums and teeth with work, try to include more apples, carrots, cabbage, nuts, barley porridge and other foods that require long chewing in the diet. Chew food, evenly loading all the teeth, alternately with the left, then with the right side of the jaw. Do not drink milk, tea, juice, drinks, water, or other liquids with food. By swallowing food along with liquid, you do not chew it and thereby deprive it of the possibility of interacting with saliva.

Based observing the life of a cow, we can safely say that you can chew non-stop around the clock. Such a thorough chewing of food for people, of course, is not acceptable. How many times do you need to chew food to achieve better weight loss? Someone advises - 100-150 times, and some - 50-70 times. It really depends on what you're chewing. If it is difficult to grind a carrot for 50 times, then a minced meat cutlet can be done for 40 times. Yes, and the condition of everyone’s teeth is different. So chew until your teeth turn the food into a homogeneous liquid mass!

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Even in ancient times, Indian yogis and Tibetan lamas recommended: chew liquid food, and drink solid food.

Adhering to this motto, food should be chewed for a long time, even milk, juices, compotes should be chewed at least 30 times, and solid food - at least 70-100 times. Chew solid food until it becomes liquid.

In the case of a hasty meal, the saturation center does not have time to get involved in the process. This takes 25-30 minutes. No matter how much you eat during this time, the feeling of fullness will come later. The longer the food is chewed, the less of it is needed to achieve a feeling of fullness.

Active long-term chewing of food improves blood circulation in the brain, heals the nasopharynx and gums, protects teeth from caries (saliva neutralizes acids and sugar in food). And most importantly, the first stage of digestion is sufficiently carried out in the oral cavity: saliva envelops small particles of food, and under the action of its enzyme ptyalin, polysaccharides break down into disaccharides. Disaccharides in the small intestine easily break down into monosaccharides (glucose, fructose).

Well-chewed protein and fat particles of food will be more efficiently broken down in the digestive tract by the action of enzymes into amino acids and fatty acids. At the same time, all the components of food are better absorbed by the body, and less waste goes to waste.

The method of long-term chewing of food was promoted by the American physiologist H. Fletcher at the beginning of the last century. At the age of 44, he had a number of diseases: overweight, heart and vascular diseases, and a stomach ache.

He switched to the method of long-term chewing of food. When he chewed food more than 100 times, he noticed that it, as saturated as possible with saliva, imperceptibly disappeared from the oral cavity. He was surprised that he had 3 times less food than before. For some time, his body weight returned to normal, diseases disappeared. He began to exercise daily and, as in his youth, became athletic.

H. Fletcher at the American Military Academy led a convincing experiment in which 2 groups of people took part: obese officers and thin soldiers. The diet for all was the same. H. Fletcher made sure that they chewed food for a long time. Only thanks to long-term chewing of food, the officers lost weight, and the soldiers got better.

The follower of this method was the American millionaire John D. Rockefeller, who lived to be 98 years old.

In recent years, clubs of long-term chewing of food have appeared in England, as reported in the media.

Experts say: chew food 50 times, and the stomach will not hurt, and chew 100 times, you will live 100 years.

Of course, in addition to a balanced diet and proper chewing of food, physical exercises are also needed for health, in particular, they contribute to better digestion and improve the function of internal organs. In particular, 2 exercises are recommended that can be performed in the summer immediately after sleeping on an empty stomach:

1. Lying on your back, massage your stomach with your palms: 42 circles clockwise and 42 against. Having reached the upper part of the abdomen with the palms, place them with an edge and press the insides down, and having reached the lower part with the palms, press the insides up to the top. This exercise helps to get rid of constipation, colitis, internal organs are massaged, as a result of which blood circulation in them and their functions improve.

2. Lying on your back, inhale through your nose and at the same time inflate your stomach as much as possible. Then exhale twice as long through the mouth (lips are folded into a tube) with the sound fu, fu, fu ... At the same time, the front wall of the abdomen is drawn in towards the spine.

Take 22 or 42 such breaths.

Performing this exercise, in addition to improving the activity of internal organs, helps in the treatment of bronchitis, asthma, and angina pectoris. Obese people, performing this exercise daily, become emaciated.

Hello dear readers.

Do you know that there is a very simple healing technique that cures many diseases, especially diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. , duodenitis, diseases of the gallbladder, pancreas are difficult to cure without the use of this method.

So, get acquainted - therapeutic chewing.

The essence of this technique is so simple that you might be surprised that it can cure diseases. But do not rush to conclusions, read the article and try it. You will quickly feel the beneficial effects of therapeutic chewing.

Of course, if you have a disease, for example, gastritis, already running, you cannot defeat it with one method, I already wrote about this in an article. But without chewing your food thoroughly, you won't be able to fully recover.

In today's world, people have forgotten how to do it right. Eating on the run, overeating, drinking leads to obesity and the development of chronic diseases of all organs and systems. To maintain excellent health and remove toxins, they will be used often. The combination of the method of proper chewing of products with one of the methods contributes to the prevention of diseases and the fastest getting rid of many diseases. Let's talk about how to chew food properly.

An excursion into the history of the emergence of the technique

The founder of the method of proper chewing of food is the American physiologist Horace Fletcher. After 40 years, his health cracked, diseases occurred one after another, worsening his general condition and reducing his ability to work. He was diagnosed with a "bouquet" of ailments from the digestive, cardiovascular and endocrine systems, and psychological problems arose. A sharp deterioration in health led to the refusal of insurance companies to pay medical insurance for long courses of therapy.

Despite the difficult streak in life, Fletcher did not become depressed, but tried to find the roots of his problems. He came to the conclusion that the deterioration of health arose as a result of malnutrition - snacking on the go, violation of the daily routine, fast eating while watching the press and television programs. Thanks to his knowledge in physiology, the doctor described in detail the causes of ailments with malnutrition. Based on scientifically based findings, he created an effective method of therapeutic chewing, which was called fletcherism.

Briefly about the process of digestion

According to the physiology of digestion, food begins to be digested already in the oral cavity. Food contains essential nutrients that are essential for the life of the body. These are proteins, carbohydrates and fats. For absorption in the digestive tract, nutrients must be broken down into smaller particles that can enter the bloodstream. In this state, they are delivered by the circulatory transport system (special proteins) to cells and tissues.

Food components are broken down by the digestive juices of the mouth, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and liver. They contain enzymes that break down large nutrient molecules into smaller particles. Carbohydrates begin to break down already in the oral cavity, and then in the duodenum 12. Thus, the body prepares them for further digestion in the digestive tract. Proteins and fats are broken down mainly in the stomach and small intestine. For proper digestion, food must be mechanically crushed by teeth, chemically treated with saliva. And the more the better.

The essence of the method of therapeutic chewing

The method of therapeutic nutrition is based on the physiology of digestion and is aimed at maintaining the health of all organs and systems. Fletcher proved that chewing one portion of food in the oral cavity should account for at least 30 chewing movements, ideally about 100. As a result, the food bolus is completely saturated with saliva, softens, liquefies and enters the esophagus without swallowing movements, as if sliding down the throat and without spasms moves along the esophagus. This phenomenon has been called the "Fletcher food probe".

Of course, you don't have to go to the point where food passes without being swallowed, but remember, the more you chew, the better.

The technique of thoroughly chewing food was known in oriental medicine. It was actively used by yogis. Thanks to the correct way of eating, they were saturated with a small amount of food, healed physical and spiritual ailments, life expectancy was at least 100 years. With a small amount of food consumption, yogis maintained a cheerful state during the day, and maintained a healthy sleep at night.

There is another aspect here.

The fact is that when we chew slowly and focus only on food (we don’t get distracted, we don’t talk, but we feel the food, its taste), we energetically interact with it. All this leads to the fact that we take more nutrients from food, energetically and physically saturate faster. We now need less food.

The digestive organs become healthier and stronger.

Yogis knew about all this. No wonder there is a legend that the stomach of a yogi is able to digest even a rusty nail. There is a deal of truth in it.

Have you noticed that when someone cooks food, tastes it, they get satiated faster? And he no longer wants to sit down and eat with everyone. He just energetically interacted with food. Draw your own conclusions.

Every person who wants to maintain good physical shape throughout life should know how to chew food properly. Here are the main principles of the healing technique:

do not fill your mouth with food, it is necessary to place food in the oral cavity in small portions, filling it halfway;
chew food slowly - the number of minimum chewing movements can, for example, be calculated by the formula: one movement for an existing tooth, three for a missing or diseased tooth. For example: if you have 32 healthy teeth, then chew food 32 times, you can increase the number of jaw movements by 2-5 times. But that's about all. The main principle - the more the better;
while eating, try to achieve maximum contact of the food bolus with the tongue, which has a large number of receptors. This allows you to activate the work of the digestive glands through nerve impulses to the central nervous system;
eating should take place in a calm environment, provided there is no irritability and anger. Negative emotions disrupt the process of splitting food;
the meal should not be accompanied by other activities (reading, talking, watching TV), while eating, you need to concentrate on the taste of dishes, smells, the process of chewing and saturation. Those. energetically interact with food.

Fletcher suggested a 5-week course of the technique, during which a person uses therapeutic chewing at each meal. During this period, a healthy way of eating is fixed at the reflex level and then maintained for a long time. With the extinction of skills, the course can be repeated.

Scheme of a 5 week course of healing chewing:

The first week - each serving of food in the mouth is crushed for 1 minute.
Second week - 2 minutes.
Third week - 3 minutes.
Fourth week - 2 minutes.
Fifth week - 1 minute.

The technique must be used at every meal, otherwise the effect will be reduced to zero. In this case, all Fletcher's recommendations should be followed.

Of course, in the modern world with a frantic pace of life, it is difficult to constantly adhere to the recommendations for long chewing. Do then, at least periodically, such courses, and during breaks try to chew based on the availability of free time. When you feel beneficial changes and learn to eat with energy benefits, you will enjoy chewing thoroughly, and you will no longer want to stupidly quickly swallow food, like animal.

Benefits of therapeutic chewing

Positive changes in the body are noticeable after the first course of application of the technique. The attitude towards food is radically changing - a person enjoys dishes, enjoys a meal, gains strength, emotional upsurge, feels true happiness.

The positive impact of the Fletcher method on health:

the effect of separate nutrition without difficulties in compiling a diet - nutrients are split sequentially during slow chewing;
a decrease in the volume of food consumed by 2-5 times - proper chewing contributes to the normalization of the satiety center in the brain, which prevents malnutrition and obesity;
a set of natural body weight. Fat people lose weight, thin people gain weight;
small energy costs for the digestion of a small volume of products - energy goes to the recovery and healing processes in the body;
improvement of the work of digestion and other body systems - nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, sexual;
getting rid of many diseases;
maintaining the correct biorhythms - active daytime wakefulness, calm and uninterrupted sleep at night;
maintaining a good mood and a state of emotional uplift.

Now you know how to chew food properly. Use the technique at every meal and enjoy good health, excellent mood, good performance. To enhance the healing effect, combine proper chewing with or wet (with water) fasting.

And then you will be healthy and happy! What do you want!

I suggest watching an interesting video about therapeutic chewing:

Sincerely, Sergey Tigrov

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 varied, 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 be surprised! 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.

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.
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.
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. The longer food stays 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. The gastrointestinal tract from careful chewing receives 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 abdominal pain. 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 sends a signal to the 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 the food needs to be crushed - this is the primary task assigned to the oral cavity, to grind 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 this fact has a scientific justification: a liquid saturated with saliva is better absorbed without stress on 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 delicious food whenever possible. 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 carry 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.

Health

We have been fed up with advice since childhood, the most annoying of which seems to be the following advice - Eat slowly, chew food thoroughly. However, many of us do not even think to follow this rule. Moreover, the reason for such carelessness is very simple - it's just that no one explained to us why it is so important to chew the food we eat thoroughly. Perhaps this advice will be heard by a lot more people who will begin to follow it regularly if they really realize how much better it will be for their health. bite off a small piece while eating and chew it for a long time. In fact, there are a lot of reasons why it should be done this way and not otherwise, but they can all be summarized in five different categories.

Most people believe that the food they eat begins to dissolve only when they swallow it. However the key point of the entire digestive chain begins when the food is in the mouth. Chewing, as such, is the signal for our salivary glands to produce saliva. In addition, this is a signal for our entire body, warning it that now food will begin to flow into our stomach. This signal allows our stomach, in the literal sense of the word, to prepare for a meal. The longer you chew your food, the more saliva it mixes in your mouth before being swallowed. This, in fact, is one of the benefits of slowly chewing small pieces of food.

Despite the fact that human saliva is 98 percent water, it is an extremely beneficial substance. and contains a large number of enzymes. In addition, our saliva contains many components that have antibacterial properties, including mucus and electrolytes. Enzymes contained in saliva begin the chemical process of breaking down food as soon as our teeth are closed for the next portion of food. The teeth themselves at this moment also perform the most important function, grinding food and reducing its size in such a way 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 do to release these ingredients.

Remarkably, but most often the best, most effective and simplest remedy for indigestion, caused by too much food, is a preventive measure in which you eat the same amount of food, only for a slightly longer amount of time. Chew each little bite 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, then another problem for the digestive system is that it is quite difficult for our body to move such pieces along the digestive tract.

By getting your chewing process close to ideal and necessary for your health, you will begin to regularly supply your body with smaller pieces of food that it can digest much faster and, very importantly, more efficiently.

The smaller piece of food you swallow after chewing, the less surface area of the digestive system is exposed to digestion (digestive) enzymes. This, in turn, means that the less time it takes for a given piece to break down into its constituents, and the more nutrients will be absorbed by your body.

A once little-known fact that more and more people now know says that our brain needs about twenty minutes to so that it receives a signal from our body that the stomach is full. If someone absorbs food too quickly, then such a person has every chance of eating much more food than he really needs to feel full. As a result, such an eater will be left with an unpleasant feeling of satiety - a very unhealthy feeling that everyone seems to be familiar with.

On the other side, if you stop fidgeting with your spoon or fork, and give yourself the opportunity to thoroughly chew each portion of food put in your mouth before swallowing it, the process of eating food will take you more time. This means that you have the opportunity to feel that you are full before you overeat. In other words, your stomach will not get that extra amount of food that you do not need, 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 in general, and for your digestive system in particular.

In today's hectic world, most people want to eat more often than they once did. If you start spending more time chewing food, then you will gradually begin to appreciate much more the time that you spend on food in general. The longer you chew, the tastier and sweeter (literally!) each piece 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 flavor and texture of food will become more pronounced as soon as you focus all your attention on food and start appreciating the taste of every bite you eat. Slow chewing can open the door to a completely new world that has always been with you, but which you did not pay due attention to. Thus, you involuntarily begin to take more care of what exactly to put in your mouth to saturate! This will help you eat healthier and get more pleasure from every slow meal. You will never again pounce on food with greed, because you will no longer need it!

There are a lot of opinions about the time that should be given to chewing each piece. Great practical way to figure out the time it takes for each bite of food that you put in your mouth is as follows: you need to chew until it is difficult for you to tell, based only on the texture of the chewed food, what exactly you are chewing. However, speaking in numbers, for solid food, 30 to 40 chews per bite are optimal. A 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 looks pointless The act of chewing itself will prevent possible indigestion caused by eating large amounts of food at a time when your digestive system is prepared by not chewing only to consume water or juice.

In addition, saliva mixed with food makes it much easier for your body to digest food, regardless of the consistency of what you have consumed. But what to do if you consider it impossible to slowly absorb and chew food for the simple reason that you do not have enough time for this? Perhaps this is just a matter of habit, which means it makes sense to try the following few tips. that can help you learn to chew much more slowly:

-- Try to use chopsticks.

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

-- Concentrate only on food, not paying attention to anything around you.

-- Eat only in designated areas(for example, in the kitchen, and not in the room, sitting at the computer).

-- Devote the time you spend eating to contemplating this process along the way.

-- Try to cook on your own, as this will help you learn to appreciate every bite of food you eat.

Take the time to chew your food thoroughly, and you will do wonders for your own digestive system in particular, and for your overall health. Among other things, you will get rid of the discomfort felt before after each meal. Finally, treat every bite of food you eat as a real gift, and give your body a real chance to digest food exactly as it should - without the slightest feeling of discomfort.