“Don’t talk with your mouth open”... “Stop smacking...”
A lot of manners go hand and hand with food in your mouth but has anybody ever told you how many times to chew your food?
Some experts have concluded the magic number of chews for good health is 32 times.
However, Dr. John Higgins from UT Health and LBJ Hospital, says 20 chews is healthy, according to one study.
“They ate less, they had lower spikes in their blood sugar, and they tended to lose weight or maintain weight,” Dr. Higgins said.
Why so much importance on chewing?
Chewing is the first step of digestion.
Chewing starts the saliva breaking down food; sends it down the esophagus and into your stomach.
“If you scarf it all down, it’s going to sit in your stomach and then it’s going to go ‘boom!’ And then you’re going to get you know the food coma,” Dr. Higgins explained.
If you’re looking to lose weight: chewing is important in slowing you down while eating and it also signals to your brain to stop eating sooner.
“You know, the brain is told oh, I’m starting to get some food, I don’t have to eat as much moving forward, and you don’t eat as much and you kind of also feel better and you feel more energetic,” Dr. Higgins said.
Not chewing enough can lead to:
- Bloating
- Acid reflux
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Malnutrition (In one study, people who chewed a long time were better able to absorb nutrients.)