The Science of Chewing

We’ve all heard of healthy habits like drink more water and get more sleep, but likely you’re not thinking about they way you chew your food. 

Conscientious chewing is one habit that directly affects your digestion, weight management, and surprisingly, your mood! The science behind what happens when you consciously chew your food illuminates the many benefits associated with it. 

Let’s get into it: 

At its simplest, chewing allows for the healthy digestion of the foods that you eat. It is the first step in the digestive process.

Without the chewing process, your body would not be able to adequately absorb the important nutrients found in your food. Basically, this is because chewing breaks down food into smaller pieces. If you did not chew each bite, your food would not be digested properly. 

In turn, this would lead to low absorption of nutrients while the food is in your intestines and stomach. Other troublesome complications such as constipation and indigestion, nausea and stomach ache, headache, low energy levels, heartburn, and other symptoms could ensue as well. Over time, lack of necessary energy and nutrients could lead to even greater health problems, such as nutrient deficiency, bone loss, and a weakened immune system.

When you chew conscientiously, you chew your food slower and more mindfully. You aren’t hurried. You are deliberate. You chew more times than you normally would on average. And as a result, your digestion benefits and so does your mind.

The relationship between chewing and the mind are fascinating. Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has written and spoken extensively on the act of mindful eating, saying that this act can bring you great joys and delights in your life. He uses mindful eating as an example of the way in which you can use mindfulness in your daily life with basically any activity. That is, the same principles that he applies to mindful eating can be applied to any task you undertake. 

A full mind-body habit that’s worth building! Here are the first steps on how to start better chewing habits.