Mastication – Fancy word for chewing – Doing it long enough? Part 1

So, the importance of chewing begins with:

• Mastication and nutrition
• then its effect on appetite
• and onto its impact on cerebral blood flow and the development of dementia.

There is an inter-relationship between the teeth and with muscles of mastication (chewing) and muscles of the neck and the temporal-mandibular joint (TMJ). This is due to the feedback loop that occurs between each structure.

The main drivers of the jaw joint complex are the muscles. The teeth, joint, bones and even the muscles themselves are all providing feedback to the brain. This enables the brain to co-ordinate or, if you like, conducts the orchestra of anatomy to achieve its goal – mastication or chewing.

However, as humans, we like to do things that upset this amazing performance. The brunt of the issues affects the muscles. Muscles throughout the body work in teams. Simply, one group of muscles contract while another group relaxes.

The importance of chewing is to breakdown the food so it can be swallowed. The greater the number of cycles of chewing, the more nutrients can be released for more subsequent digestion further along its journey through the body.

The more you chew, the more stimulation of saliva production with is amylase enzyme that breaks down complex starches to simple carbohydrates. The ultimate end of digestion is to absorb glucose from food. Glucose is the fuel for the entire body.

The more chewing cycles, the slower the pace of eating which provides more satisfaction and the feeling of being full after eating. As a result, less is needed is gain the same sense of fullness with meals. This means more enjoyment from the meal and the less intake of energy means greater weight control.

There is a feedback loop at the end of the meal. The more satisfying the meal, the more the sensation of hunger is suppressed.

Just a side note, the tongue detects basic tastes, but the nose, with hundreds of receptors for chemicals that evaporate off food, adds more to the flavour. The brain draws on ALL the senses and past memories to construct an intricate “flavour image” that lingers in the memory. Ready for next the experience! The brain drives everything to create the perception of taste and flavour.

Moderate chewing of 25 cycles seems to be the most comfortable. This depends, the food and the bite and saliva flow. More to come as it’s a complex function of the body.