A lot of people are in such a hurry when they eat that they rarely chew their food properly.
The first stage of digestion starts from the mouth and it’s a highly important aspect of digestion that comes with its health benefits and risks if not done.
Below are some reasons you shouldn’t hurriedly chew your food.
1. IT AIDS DIGESTION
Chewing your food properly helps pre-digest your food and cuts it into bits and probably liquefy it. This would make it easier for the food to be digested and save you some energy, as digestion requires a huge amount of energy, especially if the food wasn’t chewed properly.
2. IT WOULD HELP YOU MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT
Research has shown that chewing your food properly can enable you maintain a healthy weight. The longer you chew your food, the longer it would take to finish a meal and that would mean you would most likely eat less.
It takes about 20 minutes for the brain to signal to the stomach that it’s full, and this could lead to you eating excessively if you chew too fast. So, if you are watching your weight then chewing slowly is your best bet.
3. EASES STRESS
Health experts would tell you that chewing properly would help relax the lower stomach muscle.
4. YOU ENJOY THE FOOD BETTER
You get the full taste of the food when you chew properly than when you don’t. When you chew slowly, you savor the flavour in every tiny bit of the food. Studies have shown that the taste receptors are more active when the food is chewed properly.
5. ENSURES EASY PASSAGE
When the food is chewed properly, it makes the saliva mixes more with the food and this would ensure easier passage into the digestive tract.
6. WOULD ENSURE THE FOODS ARE BROKEN DOWN CHEMICALLY
Proper mastication of the food would ensure that larger amounts of food molecules are broken down into particles, and this would increase enzyme action, not only in the stomach but the mouth as well. This would make it easier for the intestine to absorb nutrients from the food particles.
7. HELPS THE TEETH
Chewing serves as a means of exercise to the teeth; it would help keep the bone holding the teeth strong.
Also, the saliva produced when chewing is beneficial to the mouth. It would help clear food particles from the mouth and also bacteria that could lead to plague and tooth decay.
Chewing your food properly is the best option when eating. Chewing improperly or worse still, swallowing the food could pose certain health risks.
S.O.Z