Mastication - salivation - digestion

We eat faster and faster, without thinking about it, as a habit or unconscious reflex.
We often forget the importance of the mouth, called by the professeur Joyeux “the palate of flavors”.
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EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE MOUTH! 

• Tongue and the taste buds:

The tongue is made of 12 small muscles and is surrounded by the taste buds. They contain cells that interact with taste compounds in foods. They can detect each of the 5 basic sensations (salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umani). The taste buds have different shapes and are also found inside the cheeks, on the gums, on the soft palate and on the uvula.

• Thirty two teeth in totall:

They are made for mastication, to break down food.

• Six salivary glands:

They can produce 1 liter to 1.2 liters of saliva each day (as much as the stomach, liver and pancreas). Saliva enhances the perception of the flavors in food.

The chewing process also called mastication is extremely important as it is the first step in the digestive process.  
The digestive enzymes found in our saliva make the nutrients easier to absorb.
Chewing breaks down food from large particles into smaller particles that are more easily digested and better assimilated by the stomach.
The longer you chew, the smaller the pieces you eat can help you to eat less. It allows enough time for the brain to study the composition, the quality of our aliments to improve their assimilation.
Chewing food longer help feel full. It takes time for the brain (around 20 minutes) to signal the stomach that it is full. Chewing food longer will instantly help control the portion sizes.
Chewing also help glucose absoption. The saliva contains the enzyme amylase that break down the starch into simple sugars. When starches are not pre-digested enough in the mouth, they are not completely assimilated. The excess ends up in the large intestine where it will ferment and lead to gas and bloating.

HOW TO CHEW FOOD PROPERLY?

• Be conscious while you eat, concentrate on your meal, take time to eat.
• Always sit down for meals, eat with cutlery or with chopsticks.
• Make small bites and only swallow when the food is crushed, mixed
• Reduce the quantity of soft food (mashed, compote….)
• Maintain a good proportion of raw food and start the meal with a portion of it.
• Avoid reading, watching TV during meals.
• Adopt the same pace as the slower guest at the table, or put the fork down between bites.
• Take a pause between dishes.

So start today even if you only think about it for a few seconds during your meals at first, keep at it it will become an habit.

References:
France Guillain - Mastiquer, c’est la santé
Professeur Henri Joyeux - Changez d’alimentation
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/31/chewing-foods.aspx