If you are not chewing food properly from your childhood, it becomes a habit as you grow up. Here are some reasons for what happens when you swallow your food and the benefits of chewing food slowly.
1. Incomplete Digestion
Not chewing food properly can result in incomplete digestion.
When you do not chew properly, you eat faster and your brain will not send the signal that your stomach is full, it causes distress on digestion. This causes a high risk of developing cramps, acidity, gas, heartburn, ulcers, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, stomach pain.
2. Acidity or GERD
It can cause acidity or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). When the food or liquid leaks into a tube present in backward from the stomach, this process can cause irritation in the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms of GERD.
3. Bad Oral Health
Do you know, when you chew, you are helping your teeth to workout. If you don’t chew properly, your teeth will not get a proper workout and might become weak.
So, let me give you a note about all the interconnected points regarding chewing food properly.
Note- Not proper chewing of food -> won’t produce enough saliva -> no washing of food particles and bacteria out of the mouth -> more plaque buildup -> result in tooth decay.
4. Gets insufficient Nutrients for Your Body
If you don’t chew properly, your body doesn’t get sufficient nutrients for the proper functioning of your body. Proper chewing means cracking down of food from large particles into smaller particles, which are easier to digest. If you don’t do so, it gets harder for intestines to get nutrients, vitamins, and other minerals from the food particles
5. No chewing food no enjoyment
You ought to enjoy your meal at every single bite. Set your mealtime, concentrate, and chew properly, it will surely lead you to slow down and enjoy all the flavors of your meal. Rushing during your meal plus hardly chewing, will not give you satisfaction to taste or enjoy the meal.
6. Increased bacterial overgrowth
Large food particles are not fully digested by your stomach. Thus, some food will be not being under fully processed. This undigested food can lead to growing bacteria in the colon that can cause various diseases, such as acidity, gas, heartburn and bloat, constipation or diarrhea, stomach pain, and cramp, etc.
7. Might cause food poisoning
Not chewing properly is connected to less saliva production which means your food didn’t get enough saliva. The saliva consists of an enzyme (lysozyme); which is useful antibiotics that fight against several serious diseases.
8. Overweight problems
To maintain a healthy weight, you must eat slowly and chew properly. During a meal, chew for at least 20 minutes, your brain will send a signal that your stomach is full and you might not feel hungry for a longer duration. Not chewing food leads to overeating of foods. If we chew properly, we will help the calorie-burning process which helps us to not being overweight. This is the reason why slow eaters are slimmer and fast eaters are overweight.
The above-mentioned points about what happens when you swallow your food and benefits of chewing food slowly will surely give you sufficient reasons for chewing properly. Help your child in learning the skill of chewing food.
