Chewing your food is crucial. It can help you avoid choking when you swallow and ensure you safely digest your meals. Believe it or not, there is a proper way to chew. First and foremost, when you are chewing, take your time. It takes about 25 minutes for your hormones to inform your brain you’re full.
If you eat an entire meal in five minutes, your brain won’t have enough time to register that you are full. However, if you take 30 minutes to eat your entire meal, your brain is more likely to know you are full well before you have finished eating the same amount of food.
Be sure to continue to chew your food until it has been liquefied or lost all of it texture. Also, finish chewing and swallowing completely before taking another bite of food and wait to drink fluids until you’ve swallowed.
Here at Costa Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, some patients ask us whether they should chew with their front or back teeth. The answer to this question is that your back teeth can help you chew and grind down your food into smaller pieces.
As you eat food, your tongue will push it back into your mouth towards your back teeth so they can grind down the foods into pieces that are easy for you to swallow.
Contact Costa Costa Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
Healthy chewing is important for achieving optimal oral health. For more information, contact our Ashburn, VA office today at 703-439-1214.