Copyright © Joel Kaye, MA

Unless you are eating a piece of jerky or chewy candy, you usually don’t give much thought to how much it takes to chew food and get it to the point where you can swallow. That can be a real obstacle to weight loss and can also be preventing you from getting the most out of your food. One of the biggest road blocks to losing weight is feeling satisfied. Chewing properly gives you that satisfaction.

The taste buds on the tongue let you taste whether a food is sweet, sour, salty, or bitter. When you chew well, you will experience these tastes. You will also draw out all of the nutrients from the food. When you swallow too quickly, you have not allowed the salvia to break down the food the way it should. Chewing is the first step in the digestive process, and should not be rushed. It allows the brain to signal the rest of the digestive tract to get the right juices ready. All of this allows the body to better assimilate the food and the brain to feel more satisfied.

How to Chew the Right Way

Chewing ought to come naturally, but doing it right isn’t always instinctual. Infants must develop the muscles to gum soft foods and swallow, and adults need to relearn how to chew enough. Here are some steps to enhancing the chewing experience and make chewing work for you in your weight loss efforts:

1. Chew each bite of food 35 times. Most people chew less than 10 times and don’t even taste their food. By chewing much more you will stimulate each of the taste buds and really taste your food. Getting more flavors from your food will help you feel more satisfied with less food.

2. Rest between each bite. If you put your fork down between each bite, it will allow you more time to chew your current mouthful before adding more. As you do this you can concentrate on the food inside your mouth instead of gathering the next forkful from the plate.

3. Take a drink. In between each mouthful of food, wash it down with water. This will get your mouth ready to taste the next bite.

4. Smell your food. You don’t need to take a big whiff to get the aroma of food. If you chew slowly, you will naturally take in more of the aroma and it will make the food more satisfying.

Taking these steps to really chew food well accomplishes several important processes in the body. Saliva contains bicarbonate which activates an important enzyme called cellulose. Bicarbonate and cellulose are needed to digest raw vegetables. By chewing well the salvia can work to get the most nutrients from the raw vegetables.

Another process aided by chewing well is keeping the mouth clean and healthy. Chewing gives the salvia more surface area to kill potential food-borne bacteria.

Thoughtful chewing is just one way to trick the mind and body into being satisfied with less food. More than that, however, chewing slowly gives the body’s natural digestive process a boost to get better nutrition from each bite of food.

Joel Kaye holds a Masters Degree in Physical Health Education and he is currently teaching classes at the prestigious New York University's Coles Sports Center On Weight Management, Nutrition And Exercise And Cancer Wellness. Find out how to achieve optimal health at: www.rightbraindiet.com