> 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