Chew!
9 years ago by
So, this is going to sound like a strange question (because it is!) buuuut… how much do you chew?
Say what?! Well, recently I went to the most beautiful lifestyle retreat (with the most incredible spa I have ever been to in my life – take me back!) and they said that the most important thing you can do is chew your food. Not as in chew it three times and then wash it down with water, but chew each mouthful at least 30 – 50 times.
Sounds pretty simple but it’s suuuuper time consuming. It takes about a million years to finish a meal but they say if you don’t chew then you’re not digesting as well as you could be.
Oh yeah, and chewing is really good for your teeth :)
So I’ve been trying to chew as much — and for as long — as I can. This is what it’s been like…
Breakfast: I’m always in a rush in the mornings. It’s usually toast with avocado (best start to the day everrr) or porridge. I eat while I get ready, so I manage to just take small bites and chew a lot in between brushing my hair and searching for socks…
Lunch: Soup is easy (no chewing!) so that’s a good option. If I have salad, I ask them to chop it up into tiny pieces and do my best to eat slow but I’m normally in the middle of a million bunch of things so sometimes it’s a chomp and dash situation.
Dinner: This is difficult. I’m usually at a restaurant with friends and I’m the slowest person to eat. By the time I finish my starter, most people are onto dessert…
Does this sound crazy to you or do you take time to chew??
Yes! Eating slowly and chewing well is the ultimate trick to remain connected to your feeling of hunger and satiety – which helps not eating your emotions (and thus not gaining weight) and being in touch/sync with your body (which helps you feel what you feel, rather than numb your negative feelings -> so important for all spheres of your life…).
i’m gonna try this: at least when i’m at home! :)
http://littleaesthete.com
well…I’m definitely a chewer, really I am! My grandma told me about how much this is this important for my wellness and I can’t stop chewing 10 times, or even more every bite1
XOX, Gap.
http://www.gaptoothedgirl.com
Ha! Funny subject :)
And I do take my time to chew, and it does take painstakingly long! Not by choice though, I’m just a horribly slow eater and can’t swallow before I chew a lot. My sister is the same, so we’re always the last ones sitting at the lunch table.
It’s a bit annoying sometimes in company, especially when I talk a lot too which takes up even more time, but I kinda got used to it and have accepted it.
The good thing about this – what I though to be annoying – thing is that you’re full quicker! Well, you feel full quicker is more adequately put. Your brain only registers when you’re full 20 minutes after your stomach is actually satisfyingly full. So if you eat really fast your brain is wayyyy behind you. And you overeat! Making you feel bloaty and crappy (and making you take in more than you need).
So that’s what I love most about eating slow, you automatically are more in tune with your body. And yes, it’s also better for digesting! I have to eat a bit more often during the day though, because I eat less in one sitting. But I’m okay with that, always have some nuts and crackers on hand.
great post
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J’ai subi un rabâchage concernant le mâchage petite alors forcément je fais tt l’inverse !
Mais on peut mâcher lentement du chewing gum aussi ;)
http://www.therocamadour.fr/
As a medical professional I must say that it is impossible for “particles of food” to enter your bloodstream or to “just hang around your stomach”. Undigested particles of food are passed as feces. You also cannot gain weight from food you haven’t digested. Chewing well is very important because the first digestive enzymes are the salivary enzymes, and huge undigested chunks of food in your stomach (does anyone do this on a regular basis?) can lead to bloating and discomfort, but 30-50 times a mouthful is a gross exageration.
I hate pseudoscience. Just like the juicers try to tell us that actually chewing your own fruit and vegetables is not as good as pureeing it; that man was designed not to function optimally without a blender.
Whatever marketing purpose any of this serves, I guess.
Thank you for this comment!
Thank you, Bella, thank you. A little rationality and science go a long way.
Thank you for the reality check here. Still trying to pick up my eyebrows, they’re stuck in the roof after reading this sentence. Really, “undigested food hanging around in the stomach”??? Really? On a website with such a readership? This is worrying…
It is still really important to chew you food well as large undigested food will lead to bacteria imbalances and in extreme cases leaky gut syndrome. There is medical evidence to support this The medical field is beginning to look at how we eat and how it affects our digestion. It is also good to chew well initially as it gets the digestive juices going. I have been eating slower and chewing more over the last year and have noticed a vast improvement in my digestion. No more bloating and I am full faster.
Thank you for pointing out! couldn’t believe what I read..
also the “i ask to have the salad cut in mini pieces” – seriously? Can’t you take your knife and do it yourself?? Sometimes I really wonder where health-food fashions gets people..
Thank you for this! RD here – I was all geared up to respond as soon as I read this entry, but your comment was perfect. SO many of the nutrition fads now seem to insist that our bodies aren’t already amazingly capable of managing digestion and metabolism of foods and the excretion of waste.
Pfffff ! Encore une toccade de ces spas préconisant le do et le don’t avec de pseudos informations médicales. Les repas se prennent assis et non en marchant, on mange tranquillement en savourant les plats et on mange de TOUT, en portions normales ! Donc stop aux : gluten free, sugar free, fat free, dairy free, salt free !!!!!!!!! Merci.
MERCI BELLA ! I sighed when I read the pseudoscience, someone need to clear that up… et très vite.
Thanks for your rational comment, I completely agree!
Well, this is a sweet newby’s post where joy of writing prevaled over the journalistic reflex of double checking. It’s necessary to pinpoint the error, but hey it’s a learning process, don’t be too hursh…
At last ! someone who ways something that is non nonsense ! Thank you !
THAT IS GREAT
http://thepocketstyle.blogspot.com/
Chewing lots was part of my slimming programme and it worked! Having said that- its soooo boring…
Ana
http://www.champagnegirlsabouttown.co.uk
I try to chew because I was told the same thing… but I always end up forgetting. Hmmmm.
http://www.trovea.com
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Yeah, this post is totally crazy. We have a very sophisticated digestive system which people on fad diets seem to forget sometimes.
I imagine that this is super hard to actually do. But it does make sense and I’ll try to chew better. But knowing me, I doubt it.
Anceeta.com
I’m known in my family as the slowest person in eating :D It takes me 30 minutes to 1 hour to eat one meal, I don’t lie.. I chew properly every food, but it isn’t visible on my body actually :D So I doubt that the statement mentioned in an article is true :D
sounds funny yet true!
Perso, je ne prends pas spécialement le temps de mâcher c’est vrai. C’est probablement du au fait que mon alimentation est hyper cadrée et rythmée et du coup, je ne me pose pas la question du temps de mastication vu que tout est toujours à peu près organisé de la même façon. Tout ça, de sorte à vraiment profiter des moments repas avec Chéri et de pouvoir se mettre au boulot assez rapidement.
Tu me donnes envie de faire une petite retraite aussi et de profiter de mets différents.
P.S. : tu es radieuse dans ta robe de laine blanche ivoire. Well done !
My friends hate me, my boss hates me but I just can’t eat fast. I chew everything and like to take my time over my food especially now when food tastes so good! Plus a doctor once told my sisters and I that I didn’t gain weight because I chew so slow! ….. great discussion though! with love sojustnice.com
Once you get used to taking your time, it is hard to not eat slowly! I know I’ve had to start waking up extra early so I can eat breakfast…
Thanks, Sophia!
x
Salut Neada,
j’aime beaucoup la fraicheur que tu apportes sur le blog, il est encore plus frais que frais, enfin bref c’est une super question et maintenant que tu me dis ça je vais faire plus attention même si je savais déjà qu’il est très important de mâcher.
Sur ce bonne appétit à tout le Studio <3
Merci beaucoup, Sihem! Vous êtes très gentil :)
x
That’s really true but I just want to add that you still new to chew as much when you have a soup or a juice or anything liquid. We chew in order to mix the enzymes our metabolism produces with the food we are ingesting, so it applies to ANY food liquid or solid.
That’s really interesting! I’m going to try and slow it down with the soup too :)
Thanks, Lorene!
x
Chewing is also very important for the blood flow to/in your brain. Older people in nursing homes that only get served liquid foods, deteriorate quickly, in terms of memory and brain function. It’s important for people (and animals) to actually chew their food. So ordering soup and having people cut your salad into tiny pieces is not going to help with that. Sit down for every meal and take your time to slowly eat and savor your food, preferably in the company of other people!
I’ve been investigating a macrobiotic diet, so chewing is the first principle. It does take me longer to eat, but I take less food (and need to eat less food).
Je suis allée voir une diététicienne et l’un des conseil qu’elle m’a donné est de mâcher les aliments longtemps, jusqu’à ce que ça forme une bouillis (hmmm miam). Le fait de mâcher longtemps envoie un message de satiété au cerveau et c’est de cette façon là que tu vas pouvoir maigrir, tout simplement parce que tu manges à ta faim et tu ne gobes pas plus qu’il n’en faut. Et évidemment, c’est très bon pour la dentition de mâcher, on ne mange plus assez de pain assez dur, etc… On nous mâche déjà le travail en somme ;).
Merci pour ces articles et cette nouvelle fraîcheur. Un vrai plaisir !
I’m definitely a slow chewer!! Which is actually a problem for my lunch, as I only get 30 minutes and I usually need much longer than that to complete a meal, so i’ve found myself having to either eat quicker or eat less – both of which aren’t good options for me!
{Teffy’s Perks} X
This is not new at all for me.
My grandfather used to say that you have to chew solid food till it gets liquid and “chew” liquid as if they were solid. Ok, now is fashionable all this about “slow food”, to be conected with your emotions and ultimately eat less.
Just another stupid fashion…