By Nancy L. Pidutti, PhD, RN
The technical term for chewing your food is mastication. Whoever thought up such a word? Most Americans gobble, munch, crunch, chomp, and swallow their food as if they had a pair of dentures waiting in the lining of their stomach to finish the job.
Perhaps they eat this way because most of the commonly consumed "foods" have so little fiber that it could easily be gummed. No doubt such modest dental exercise prepares people for tooth extraction or some form of artificial teeth at an early age.
Taking more time to chew your food does some major things for your health. It exercises your teeth, dental bones, and gums. It also breaks food down into smaller particles and mixes it with saliva which begins the process of digestion. Proper digestion is a pathway toward better health.
Saliva is an amazing liquid secreted by parotid glands. These small glands sit under your tongue, 2 larger ones are under the sides of your chin and 2 really large ones fan out in front of your ears, into your cheeks and sweep down to the back angles of your jaws.
Saliva is made of proteins, minerals, and the enzymes, lipase, and amylase, that begin the process of digestion. If you chew your food well, saliva lubricates the food and begins to break down the carbohydrates. All of this starts the process of digestion by preparing food for the stomach. It can then do a better job of further breaking down the food and making the particles easier to absorb as nutrients for your body.
When you take time to chew your food, an enzyme called ptyalin which is in saliva breaks down carbohydrates or starches into simple sugars. Enzymes are proteins that enable body processes to start. There are many enzymes in the body. Ptyalin does a better job on carbohydrates that have been previously tenderized by heat . Heat begins a breakdown of the thin cellulose covering that surrounds the starch.
The process of breaking down carbohydrates and mixing it with saliva is called hydrolysis. (Hydro= water or fluid, lysis means break down). It's estimated that no more than five percent of the carbohydrates are hydrolyzed by the time the food has been swallowed.
Ptyalin is a form of the enzyme known as amylase. (When you see ase on the end of a word relating to the body, it usually refers to an enzyme.) Ptyalin is another worker in the process of breaking carbohydrates and sugars down into simpler sugars which are more easily absorbed by the body
Lysozymes, are other enzymes found in saliva (and tears). Their job is to help kill bacteria that may have piggybacked onto the food. (That doesn't give us a license to eat foods with salmonella contamination.)
Did your mother ever tell you to slow down at the table and take time to chew your food? She may not have known the technical reasons for this, but she instinctively knew that you would have a healthier body if you did.
Some people go overboard and say you need to chew your food 100 times or some other absurd number. Who has time to do that in this day and age? Did whoever started that absurd idea give you a clicker to keep track of your chews?
Talking with your mouth full is not a good idea either. You may unknowingly spew some tiny food-filled spit bits out into their unsuspecting face. Not a good way to gain friends.
I'm not an advocate of opening your mouth to show how well you're chewing your food by announcing, "See food!" That's pretty juvenile and certainly Miss Manners would not be an advocate!
However, chewing that burger until well wetted by saliva is a far better option than two chews and then swallow it with water. Selah (means - Think about it!)
Be Healthy!