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Wed, 1 Mar 2006 06:57:52 -0500 |
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> chew things into a paste the way many humans do. I was taught to chew my
> food very thoroughly before swallowing but I am doing my best to overcome
> that conditioning. Wasn't there some weird diet plan that recommended
> chewing every bite 30 times before swallowing?
Hi Carrie;
I tend to think that chewing your food is a good thing - it allows for a
more complete digestion (which begins in the mouth) and breaks down the food
so it has a greater surface area for more absorption of nutrients. Also I
believe that food should be eaten in as a relaxed manner as possible.
Prolonging the time to eat eat your food can help in that respect, I would
think. However, I have the opposite problem as yourself and I am always
trying to slow down.
Rigidly following some number I don't agree with - a suggestion, perhaps, is
to chew the food until it almost slides down the back of the throat - which
seems more natural to me. Chemical digestion of proteins begin in the
stomach (see URL or table below) so one would think that meat should also be
chewed to maximize aborption?
Interesting page on digestion:
http://www.borg.com/~lubehawk/hdigsys.htm
Organ
Enzymes Present
What Happens Here
mouth
amylase (in saliva)
mechanical digestion of all food (teeth chewing & grinding)
chemical digestion of carbohydrates begins
esophagus
none
food passes from mouth through the esophagus to the stomach
stomach
pepsin
gastric juice
hydrochloric acid (HCl )*
mechanical digestion of food (churning of stomach walls)
chemical digestion of proteins begins
small intestine
pancreatic juice
intestinal juice
bile*
chemical digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, & lipids continues & is
completed
the small, soluble nutrients (sugars, amino acids, fatty acids) are
absorbed
large intestine
none
water is absorbed from unusable, indigestible wastes (feces)
rectum
none
feces are temporarily stored
anus
none
feces are eliminated (egested) from the body
Marilyn
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