Digestion begins in the mouth, so food needs to be chewed thoroughly before swallowing. Chewing your food thoroughly will reduce stress on your stomach and the rest of your digestive tract afterward.
Due to eating habits and time pressure, many people eat quickly, chew and swallow hastily, causing negative effects on their health. Illustration.
Harmful effects of eating quickly and chewing quickly on health
If you eat too quickly or don't chew thoroughly, the food pieces are too large and can cause choking. Natural bacteria in the intestines can ferment undigested food and multiply, leading to symptoms of bloating, indigestion or constipation.
In addition, eating too quickly and not chewing thoroughly can cause many long-term health problems, disrupt metabolism leading to obesity, high blood sugar and can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Disconnect the road…
Eating quickly and chewing less makes us consume more food and calories, leading to overweight and obesity. Eating quickly can disrupt hormones in your gut that help regulate your appetite and tell you when you're full. Eating quickly also reduces the thermogenic effect of food – the metabolic boost that occurs after eating.
Many studies show that people who eat fast are at a higher risk of being overweight and obese. You need to understand that the brain needs a certain amount of time to know you are full. If you eat too quickly, your brain won't have time to realize you're full and will make you eat more than your body actually needs, so your body will gain weight in a short time.
Food put into the oral cavity will be crushed by the mouth's movements before going to the stomach. When you chew thoroughly, the food is crushed and goes down easily, helping the food digestion chain to run more smoothly and gently. The stomach will reduce pressure at the time of receiving food.
If you don't concentrate when eating or eat too quickly, the food will not be processed thoroughly. At this time, a large amount of food reaches the stomach still in a raw state. The stomach must increase contractions and increase acid secretion to digest these foods again.
Food and acid are retained longer, risking the stomach lining being eroded by gastric acid itself. If fast eating continues for a long time, duodenal ulcers are difficult to avoid.
Furthermore, not chewing thoroughly and swallowing quickly causes food and gastric acid to rush into the stomach, easily leading to digestive disorders and other symptoms such as bloating, flatulence, etc. This is completely possible. can increase the risk of stomach pain, stomach ulcers, leading to abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting when eating...
Erosive inflammation of the stomach lining causes shallow erosions or sometimes deep ulcers, and it is very easy for the disease to become chronic and difficult to completely treat.
- Metabolic syndrome
Insulin resistance is closely related to metabolic syndrome. This is a group of factors that increase the risk of developing not only diabetes but also heart disease and stroke. Research shows that people who eat quickly are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than people who eat slowly.
In particular, many fast eaters often have large waist circumferences and low HDL cholesterol levels (good cholesterol). These are two of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome, and they are often precursors to heart disease.
- Loss of connection with hunger and fullness signals
In fact, when we eat, it takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it is full. Frequently eating quickly obscures the body's natural satiety signals, you risk losing contact with natural hunger and fullness signals, and can easily lead to emotional eating in the long run.
At mealtime you should sit down and focus on eating. You need to stay away from situations that make it easy for you to devour food without paying attention, such as eating while working, eating in the car, eating while watching TV, or looking at your phone.
Solutions to limit fast eating and hasty chewing and swallowing
- 1. Chew slowly
One of the simplest, most effective ways to slow down is to chew your food more thoroughly and slowly. Chewing slowly gives the stomach enough time to signal to the brain that it feels full. This is also a good way to help you limit overeating.
- 2. Concentrate while eating
At mealtime you should sit down and focus on eating. You need to stay away from situations that make it easy for you to devour food without paying attention, such as eating while working, eating in the car, eating while watching TV, looking at your phone... Concentrating on eating will only help you slow down. but also helps the body digest better.
- 3. Eat on time
Arranging meals at a certain time is essential. When you can plan your meal times, it will be easier for you to choose a healthy food list.
People who don't have a meal plan often tend to choose to eat anything when they feel hungry. Most of them quickly choose unhealthy foods such as fast food, processed foods...
- 4. Drink a glass of water before eating
You may have heard that drinking more water can help you lose weight, and there's a reason for that. When we realize we are hungry, our first impulse is to find food. Then you can reduce your appetite by drinking water.
After drinking water, your appetite will naturally decrease. Then you can eat slowly and eat less food to feel full. Be sure to avoid drinks that are high in calories and contain a lot of sugar.
Doctor. Nguyen Xuan
