Chewing Your Food Properly - Why it is Important?

You probably do not think much about chewing while eating your food. Chewing is indeed important for your health. Well, this simple behaviour of chewing your food properly helps in proper digestion, absorption of essential nutrients and keeps several diseases at bay. When you chew your food properly, your body gives out digestive enzymes which break the large particles into smaller ones. Smaller particles are easy for you to digest.

If your food is not properly digested you can suffer from many digestive issues like bloating, stomach pain, indigestion, headache, constipation and also exhaustion. The number of times you are actually supposed to chew your food depends on the type of food you are eating. Softer food items break down easily and are also easy to digest. You should at least chew these food products 5-10 times before swallowing. Dense food takes time to break down and hence is difficult to digest. You should chew them about 30 times before swallowing. You can also take the package for Eating Right.

The benefits of chewing your food properly

1. Easy digestion and exposure to saliva: Chewing your food for a longer time helps your food to come into direct contact with your saliva. The saliva helps to lubricate your food, as a result the food goes down easily through the oesophagus. Digestive enzymes present in your saliva also make the process of digestion easier.
2. Chewing is good for your teeth: Chewing can be a good workout for your gums. It keeps your teeth bones stronger. The saliva released clears any food particles stuck inside your mouth, there is less plaque build-up and it also prevents tooth decay.
3. Chewing helps to keep weight under check: To chew food properly you must eat consciously and when you slow down, you are instantly eating less. This simple process prevents you from overeating and helps you to avoid any excess weight gain.
4. Chewing helps to prevent any kind of bacterial growth: Your food most of the time contains bacteria and saliva helps in killing some of them. So if you are eating longer and slower, it gets time to kill the bacteria which might affect your digestive process.
5. Chewing gives you time to taste and enjoy your food: Properly chewing every morsel of your food lets you taste and enjoy the food you are eating which helps you in staying fit and healthy.

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a general physician and ask a free question.