Why Is Chewing Your Food Well Important

Most of us chew without thinking about it at all. We take a bite, chew a few times, swallow, and reach for the next bite while we are still chewing the last one. Meals are often eaten in a hurry, in front of a screen, on the way somewhere, or between jobs. Chewing feels like a small, automatic part of eating, not something that deserves attention. Yet the way you chew changes what happens to your food after you swallow it, how full you feel, and how comfortable your stomach is in the hours that follow. It is not a complicated skill, and it does not need special equipment. It is simply the first step of digestion, and when that first step is done well, everything after it becomes easier for your body.

Digestion does not start in your stomach. It starts in your mouth, the moment your teeth break food into smaller pieces and your saliva begins to soften it. Your stomach has no teeth. It cannot grind a large lump of bread or a whole piece of meat into small pieces on its own. It can only mix and squeeze what you send down to it. If you send down food that is already soft, wet and broken into tiny pieces, your stomach can do its work quickly and calmly. If you send down large, dry pieces, your stomach has to work much harder, for much longer, and you are more likely to feel heavy, bloated or uncomfortable afterwards. That is the simple idea behind this whole article: chewing well is not about good manners. It is about giving your stomach food it can actually handle.

Many people only notice the importance of chewing when something goes wrong. They eat too fast at lunch, swallow large mouthfuls, and then spend the afternoon with a heavy stomach, a feeling of pressure, or a need to loosen their belt. They may blame the food itself, and sometimes the food is part of the problem, but often the speed of eating is the real cause. A rich meal eaten slowly can feel light. A simple meal eaten in a rush can feel heavy. The difference is not always what you ate. It is how you ate it. This article explains, in plain words, what chewing does, why it helps digestion, how it affects hunger and fullness, and how you can slow down without turning every meal into a chore.

What Chewing Actually Does in Your Mouth

Your teeth are tools, and each kind has a different job. Your front teeth cut food, like a knife cutting a slice of bread. Your pointed teeth tear food that needs pulling apart. Your back teeth, the large flat molars, grind food into small pieces, like a mill grinding grain into flour. When you chew properly, you use all of them together. You bite, you move the food to the side of your mouth, you grind it, and you bring it back to the centre. That movement breaks food down bit by bit until it becomes a soft, wet ball that is safe and easy to swallow. It sounds simple, but it is a careful job, and rushing it leaves the job half done.

Think of a piece of bread. If you chew it well, it turns into a soft, smooth paste before you swallow. If you chew it only twice and swallow, it goes down as a lump. That lump sits in your stomach and has to be broken down there, which takes more time and more effort. The same is true for meat, vegetables, rice and nuts. A piece of meat that is chewed well is soft and small. A piece that is barely chewed is tough and large, and your stomach has to work hard to soften it. Raw vegetables are another clear example. A carrot that is ground into tiny pieces by your back teeth is easy to digest. A large chunk of carrot swallowed whole may pass through your body barely changed, because your stomach could not break it open properly.

Chewing also mixes food with saliva, and that mixing matters just as much as the breaking. Saliva is the clear liquid your mouth makes all day, and you make more of it when you eat. It wets dry food so it slides down your throat safely. It also holds the small pieces together in a soft ball, which is much easier to swallow than a mouthful of loose crumbs. Without enough saliva, dry food can feel stuck in your throat, and you may need a drink of water to push it down. Chewing slowly gives your mouth time to make more saliva, so the food becomes wet and soft on its own. That is one reason a meal eaten slowly feels smoother than a meal eaten in a hurry.

There is another simple point that people often miss: chewing gives you time to taste your food. When you chew slowly, you notice the flavour, the texture and the temperature. You notice when a piece of bread is fresh and soft, or when a vegetable is crisp. When you eat fast, you barely taste anything, because the food is gone before your tongue has had a chance to enjoy it. That may sound like a small thing, but it changes how satisfying a meal feels. A meal you actually taste leaves you feeling content. A meal you rush through often leaves you wanting more, even when you have eaten enough, because you never really noticed what you ate.

How Saliva Starts Digestion Before You Swallow

Saliva does more than wet your food. It also begins the chemical part of digestion, the part that breaks food down into smaller pieces your body can use. Your saliva contains a natural substance that starts breaking down starch, the part of bread, rice, potatoes and pasta that gives you energy. When you chew a piece of bread slowly, you may notice it starts to taste slightly sweet after a while. That sweetness is the starch breaking down into simpler sugars while it is still in your mouth. That is digestion already working, before the food has even reached your stomach.

This early work matters because it lightens the load on your stomach. The more your mouth does, the less your stomach has to do. A mouthful of rice that has been chewed into a soft, wet paste is ready for the next stage. A mouthful swallowed almost whole still needs to be softened and broken apart in the stomach, and that takes longer. People who chew well often say they feel less heavy after meals, and this is one reason why. Their stomachs are not struggling with large, dry pieces. They are receiving food that is already half prepared.

Saliva also helps protect your teeth and your mouth. It washes away small pieces of food that stick to your teeth, and it helps keep the inside of your mouth clean between meals. When you chew, you make more saliva, and that extra flow helps rinse your mouth as you eat. Chewing certain foods, like crunchy vegetables or an apple, also helps clean the surface of your teeth in a gentle way. None of this replaces brushing your teeth, but it is a real, everyday benefit of chewing well that most people never think about.

It is worth noting that saliva works best when you are not too dry. If you have not drunk enough water during the day, your mouth makes less saliva, and food feels drier and harder to chew. That is one reason a glass of water with a meal can help, though it is not a replacement for chewing. Water wets food from the outside. Saliva wets it from the inside, piece by piece, as you chew. Both help, but they do different jobs. The practical point is simple: chew slowly, let your mouth do its work, and keep a glass of water nearby if your mouth feels dry.

Why Big Pieces Are Harder for Your Stomach

Your stomach is a strong, muscular bag, and it can squeeze and mix food very well. But it is not a grinder. It works by churning food with stomach juices, and that churning works best when the food arrives in small pieces with a large surface area. Think of it like sugar in tea. Fine sugar dissolves quickly because every tiny grain is touched by the tea. A single large lump of sugar takes much longer, because only the outside is touched at first. Food in your stomach works in a similar way. Small, well-chewed pieces give the stomach juices plenty of surface to work on. Large pieces give them very little, so the work takes longer.

When food stays in your stomach longer than it should, you may feel it. The most common feeling is heaviness, as if the meal is sitting in your stomach instead of moving on. Some people feel bloated, with their stomach feeling swollen or tight. Others feel a burning feeling or discomfort after eating too fast. These feelings do not always mean the food was bad. They often mean the food was eaten too quickly and swallowed in pieces that were too big. Slowing down and chewing properly does not fix every stomach problem, but it removes one of the most common causes of after-meal discomfort.

Large pieces also increase the risk of food going down the wrong way. When you swallow a big, dry lump, it is harder for your throat to guide it safely into the food pipe. You may cough, choke or feel food stuck for a moment. This is more likely when you are talking, laughing or rushing while you eat. Chewing food into a soft, wet ball makes swallowing smooth and safe, because the food is the right size and the right texture. Older people, young children, and anyone with a sore throat or a dental problem are especially affected by this, and for them chewing well is not just about comfort. It is about safety.

There is also the question of how much goodness your body gets from food. Your body can only take in nutrients from food it has broken down properly. If a piece of food passes through your gut still in large chunks, some of its nutrients may stay locked inside those chunks and never reach your body. Chewing well opens up the food, so your gut can reach the nutrients inside. This is especially true for foods with tough skins or fibres, like beans, lentils, whole grains and raw vegetables. Chew them well, and your body gets far more from them. Swallow them whole, and much of their value may be lost.

Chewing, Fullness and How Much You Eat

One of the most useful effects of chewing well has nothing to do with your stomach. It has to do with your brain. Your brain needs time to realise that you have eaten enough. When you start eating, your stomach begins to send signals to your brain, but those signals are not instant. They take about twenty minutes to build up. If you finish your meal in five minutes, you can easily eat far more than you need before your brain has had a chance to say that you are full. If you take twenty or thirty minutes over the same meal, chewing slowly and putting your fork down between bites, your brain catches up, and you feel satisfied with less food.

This is why fast eaters often eat more than slow eaters, even when they start with the same amount of hunger. It is not about willpower. It is about timing. A person who eats quickly may finish a large plate, feel still hungry, and take a second helping, only to feel overfull half an hour later. A person who eats the same plate slowly may feel full at the end of the plate and stop. Over weeks and months, that difference adds up. It can be the difference between a comfortable weight and a slow, steady gain that nobody notices until their clothes feel tight.

Chewing also makes each bite last longer, and that changes how your brain counts the meal. A meal of twenty slow, well-chewed bites feels like more food than the same meal eaten in five rushed bites, because your brain has had more time to register each one. You notice the flavours, you notice the textures, and you notice the moment when the hunger starts to fade. People who chew well often say they enjoy their food more and feel satisfied sooner, and that is not a coincidence. It is the natural result of giving your brain time to do its job.

There is a practical side to this that is worth trying. At your next meal, try putting your spoon or fork down after each bite, and do not pick it up again until you have swallowed. Try chewing each mouthful until it is soft before you swallow, and count to twenty if that helps you at first. You do not need to count forever. After a few days, slow chewing starts to feel normal, and you stop needing to think about it. The goal is not to make meals slow and boring. It is to give your body the twenty minutes it needs to tell you that you have had enough.

What Happens When You Eat Too Fast

Eating too fast is one of the most common habits in modern life, and it causes more trouble than most people realise. When you eat fast, you swallow more air along with your food. That air goes into your stomach and can make you feel bloated and full of wind. You may burp more, feel pressure in your stomach, or feel uncomfortable in your clothes after a meal. Chewing slowly and keeping your mouth closed while you chew reduces the amount of air you swallow, and that alone can make a real difference to how you feel after eating.

Fast eating also means you are more likely to swallow food that is not chewed enough, and that leads to the heaviness and discomfort described earlier. But there is another problem: when you eat fast, you often do not notice what you are eating. You may eat a whole packet of biscuits or a large plate of food without really tasting it, and then wonder why you are still hungry. Your stomach is full, but your brain never registered the meal, so it still asks for more. That is how fast eating can lead to overeating even when you have already eaten plenty.

The habit of eating fast often starts for a simple reason: a busy life. People eat at their desk, in the car, standing in the kitchen, or while looking at their phone. In those situations, food becomes something to get through quickly, not something to enjoy. Over time, fast eating becomes automatic, and people do it even when they have plenty of time. Breaking the habit takes a little effort at first, but it does not need a big change. It can start with one meal a day eaten sitting down, without a screen, with your full attention on the food. That one meal often shows people how different eating can feel when it is not rushed.

It is also worth saying that eating fast is not a personal failure. Many people learned to eat quickly as children, because school lunch breaks were short, or because they had to eat between jobs, or because everyone around them ate fast. If you eat fast, you are not doing something wrong on purpose. You have simply built a habit that no longer serves you. Habits can be changed, one small step at a time, and chewing is one of the easiest habits to change, because you can practise it at every meal, starting today.

Chewing and Your Teeth, Jaw and Mouth

Chewing is also good for your mouth itself. Your teeth and jaw are made to chew, and using them properly keeps them strong. When you chew firm foods, like raw vegetables, crusty bread or an apple, your jaw muscles get a gentle workout. That movement helps keep the jaw flexible and strong, and it helps your teeth stay in place. People who always eat very soft food, and never chew anything firm, may find their jaw feels weaker over time, though this is a slow change that happens over years, not days.

Chewing also helps your gums. The gentle pressure of chewing moves blood through your gums and keeps them healthy. It also helps your mouth make saliva, which, as we saw earlier, washes away food and helps protect your teeth. A mouth that chews well is a mouth that cleans itself better between brushings. That does not mean chewing replaces brushing or visiting a dentist. It means chewing is part of keeping your mouth healthy, along with brushing twice a day and cleaning between your teeth.

There are times when chewing is harder, and those times deserve honesty. If you have a missing tooth, a loose tooth, a sore gum, or a denture that does not fit well, chewing can be painful or difficult. In that case, people often start swallowing food without chewing it properly, or they avoid firm foods altogether and eat only soft foods. Both of these changes can affect digestion. If chewing hurts, the sensible step is to see a dentist, because a tooth or denture problem that makes chewing painful will not fix itself, and it can quietly change the way you eat for months. Softening food by cooking it well, cutting it into small pieces, and taking smaller bites can help in the meantime, but it is not a substitute for fixing the tooth itself.

Children also need to learn to chew well, and that learning starts early. A child who is given only soft, smooth food for too long may not develop strong chewing skills, and may struggle with firmer foods later. Giving a child foods that need chewing, in sizes that are safe for their age, helps them learn to move food around their mouth, grind it with their back teeth, and swallow safely. It is a skill that takes time to learn, like walking or talking, and it is worth the patience it takes to teach it.

How to Slow Down Without Making Meals Stressful

The idea of chewing well can sound like a rule, and rules about food often make people feel stressed. The good news is that slowing down does not need to be strict or difficult. It can be a few small changes that fit into a normal day. The first change is to sit down to eat. Eating while standing or walking makes fast eating almost automatic. Sitting down, even for ten minutes, tells your body that this is a meal, not a snack on the run. The second change is to put your phone away or turn the television off for the first few minutes of the meal. You do not need silence, but a screen pulls your attention away from your food, and that makes you eat faster without noticing.

The third change is to take smaller bites. A large mouthful is hard to chew well, because there is too much food in your mouth at once. A smaller bite is easy to chew, easy to mix with saliva, and easy to swallow. Cutting food into smaller pieces before you start eating also helps, especially for meat and hard vegetables. The fourth change is to chew until the food is soft. For most foods, that means about twenty to thirty chews per bite, though the exact number depends on the food. Soft foods need fewer chews. Tough foods need more. You do not need to count every time. Just keep chewing until the food has lost its shape and feels like a soft paste.

The fifth change is to pause between bites. Put your fork down. Take a breath. Take a sip of water if you like. That short pause gives your mouth a rest and gives your brain time to catch up. It also makes the meal last longer without any effort. The sixth change is to eat with other people when you can. A meal shared with family or friends naturally slows down, because you talk between bites, and the food lasts longer. Eating alone in a hurry is one of the fastest ways to eat too much too quickly.

None of these changes needs to be perfect. You will still have rushed meals sometimes, when work is busy or life is hectic, and that is fine. One rushed meal does not undo a good habit. What matters is the pattern over weeks. If most of your meals are eaten sitting down, with small bites and proper chewing, your stomach will feel better, you will feel full sooner, and you will enjoy your food more. That is a simple, practical reward for a simple, practical change, and it costs nothing at all.

My Take:

If you ask me what I think about chewing food well, my answer is that it is one of the simplest and most overlooked habits in everyday health. We spend a lot of time worrying about what we eat, which foods are good and which are bad, and how much we should eat, and we spend almost no time thinking about how we eat. Yet the how matters almost as much as the what. A good meal eaten in a rush can leave you feeling heavy and unsatisfied, while a simple meal eaten slowly can leave you feeling calm and full. I have seen this in my own life, and I think most people have felt it too, even if they never put it into words. The food was fine. The speed was the problem.

I think the reason chewing is ignored is that it feels too simple to matter. We are used to health advice that sounds complicated, with new rules and new products every month, so a piece of advice as plain as chew your food slowly sounds like it cannot possibly be important. But simple does not mean unimportant. Breathing is simple, drinking water is simple, and sleeping is simple, yet all three shape your health every day. Chewing belongs in that same group. It is a basic body function, it costs nothing, it needs no equipment, and it changes how your whole digestive system works. I would rather give someone this simple, honest advice than a complicated plan they will never follow.

What I like most about slow chewing is that it respects the way the body actually works. Your body was not designed to receive large lumps of dry food at speed. It was designed to receive small, soft, wet pieces, prepared by your teeth and saliva, at a steady pace. When you chew well, you are working with your body instead of against it. Your stomach does not have to struggle, your brain has time to notice that you are full, and your mouth has time to enjoy the food. When you eat fast, you are asking your stomach to do a job your mouth was supposed to do, and then wondering why your stomach complains. I think that is a fair way to look at it, and it makes the advice feel less like a rule and more like common sense.

I also think chewing well changes the way food tastes, and that matters more than people admit. Food is not just fuel. It is one of the small pleasures of a normal day, and a meal you actually taste is a better meal, even if the food is simple. A piece of bread, chewed slowly, has a flavour you miss entirely when you swallow it in two bites. A vegetable, chewed properly, has a crunch and a freshness that disappears when you rush. I am not talking about fancy food or expensive ingredients. I am talking about ordinary food, eaten with attention, and how much better it tastes when you give it time. If slow chewing makes a simple meal more enjoyable, then it is not a chore. It is a small daily pleasure, and that is why people are more likely to keep doing it.

There is another point I want to make, and it is about hunger. Many people think they are hungry when they are actually just eating too fast. They finish a plate in five minutes, still feel hungry, and eat more, only to feel overfull later. I think a lot of overeating starts here, not with greed or a lack of willpower, but with speed. The brain needs about twenty minutes to catch up with the stomach, and if you finish eating before that time is up, you will always feel as if you need more. Slowing down does not take away your appetite. It gives your appetite time to speak clearly. I would tell anyone who struggles with portion sizes to try this first, before any diet or plan, because it is free, it is simple, and it often works better than people expect.

I want to be honest about the limits too, because chewing well is not a cure for everything. If you have a stomach condition, a problem with your gut, or pain after eating that does not go away, chewing slowly will not fix it on its own, and you should speak to a health professional. Chewing well helps with the common discomfort that comes from eating too fast, but it is not a treatment for illness. I say this because I do not want anyone to read this article and think that a serious problem can be solved by chewing longer. General information has limits, and this article is general information. It can help you understand a normal, everyday habit, but it cannot replace personal advice from someone who knows your health.

I also think we should be kind to ourselves about this habit. Most of us learned to eat fast for good reasons. School lunches were short. Work breaks were short. Life was busy. Nobody sat us down and taught us to chew slowly, because it seemed too small to teach. So if you eat fast now, it is not because you are careless. It is because you built a habit in a busy life, and that habit has stayed with you. Changing it does not need guilt or a strict rule. It needs a little patience and a few small changes, like sitting down, putting the phone away, and taking smaller bites. If you manage it at one meal a day, that is a good start. If you manage it at most meals, that is even better. Perfection is not the goal. A steadier pattern is the goal.

One thing I have noticed is that meals eaten with other people are almost always slower, and almost always more enjoyable. When you eat with family or friends, you talk, you pause, you laugh, and the food lasts longer without any effort. When you eat alone, in front of a screen, the meal is over before you have noticed it. I think this tells us something important: slow eating is not just about chewing. It is about giving a meal its proper place in the day. A meal is not just a task to finish. It is a short break, a moment to rest, and a chance to enjoy something simple. If you treat it that way, slow chewing follows naturally, because you are not in a hurry to get it over with.

I also want to say something about children, because I think chewing is a skill worth teaching early. A child who learns to chew well learns to eat safely, to enjoy food, and to notice when they are full. A child who is always rushed through meals, or given only soft food that needs no chewing, misses that learning. I am not saying parents should count their children’s chews or make meals stressful. I am saying the opposite: give children time to eat, give them foods that need a little chewing, and eat slowly yourself, because children copy what they see. If they see you eating slowly and enjoying your food, they will think that is normal, and that habit will stay with them for life.

For people with dental problems, I want to be clear that chewing well can be genuinely hard, and that is not their fault. A sore tooth, a missing tooth, or a denture that does not fit can make chewing painful, and people in that situation often swallow food without chewing it, or avoid firm foods altogether. If that is you, the most useful step is not to force yourself to chew through pain. It is to see a dentist and fix the problem that makes chewing hurt. In the meantime, cutting food small, cooking it until it is soft, and taking small bites can help, but these are temporary fixes. Your teeth are tools for chewing, and when a tool is broken, it needs repair, not just careful use.

If a friend asked me for one piece of advice about eating, I would not start with a diet, a food to avoid, or a food to buy. I would start with this: sit down, slow down, and chew your food properly. It is the cheapest advice I know, it needs no shopping and no planning, and it helps almost everyone who tries it. Eat your bread slowly and taste it. Chew your vegetables until they are soft. Put your fork down between bites. Give your brain twenty minutes to tell you that you are full. Do that for a week, and notice how your stomach feels after meals. I think most people would notice a difference, and that difference would be enough to make the habit stick.

So here is my final view, in plain words. Chewing your food well is important because it is the first step of digestion, and when the first step is done well, everything after it is easier. It breaks food into small pieces, mixes it with saliva, starts digestion before you swallow, and gives your brain time to notice fullness. It reduces heaviness, bloating and discomfort after meals, it helps you enjoy your food more, and it often means you eat a sensible amount without trying. It is not a miracle, it is not a cure, and it will not fix every stomach problem. But it is a real, practical habit that costs nothing and helps every day. In my view, that is exactly the kind of habit worth keeping, and it is one I would recommend to anyone, whatever they eat and whatever their life looks like.

I also think chewing well helps over months, not just at one meal, and that long view is worth understanding. A person who eats slowly at most meals usually eats a sensible amount without thinking about it, because their brain has time to notice fullness every day. Over weeks, that means fewer second helpings, fewer snacks eaten without thinking, and fewer evenings spent feeling overfull. Nobody notices this change in a single day, because one meal does not change your weight or your health. But a small difference, repeated three times a day for months, adds up to a real difference. I think this is the quiet power of slow chewing: it does not feel like a diet, it does not feel like a sacrifice, and yet it gently changes how much you eat, day after day, without any struggle.

There is also a social side to chewing well that I think is easy to miss. In many families, meals are the one time in the day when everyone sits together, and the pace of the meal sets the mood of that time. A rushed meal, eaten standing up or in front of a screen, feels like a task. A slow meal, eaten sitting down with people you care about, feels like a rest. Chewing slowly is part of that rest, because it gives you time to talk, to listen, and to enjoy being together. I am not saying every meal must be a long family gathering. I am saying that when you slow down, you give the meal a chance to be more than just fuel, and that small change can make an ordinary day feel a little better.

I want to add something about stress, because stress and fast eating often go together. When you are worried or rushed, you eat faster, you chew less, and your stomach feels worse, which adds to the stress. It becomes a loop: stress makes you eat fast, fast eating makes your stomach uncomfortable, and discomfort makes you more stressed. Slowing down at a meal can break that loop, even if only for ten minutes. Sitting down, breathing calmly, and chewing your food properly tells your body that you are safe for a moment, and that moment of calm can carry into the rest of your day. I do not claim that chewing cures stress, because it does not. But a calm meal is a real break, and a real break is worth taking.

If you want to try this properly, I would suggest a simple test that lasts one week. At every meal for seven days, sit down, take smaller bites, chew until the food is soft, and put your fork down between bites. Do not change what you eat. Do not count calories or follow a diet. Just change the speed. At the end of the week, ask yourself three questions: did your stomach feel more comfortable after meals, did you feel full sooner, and did you enjoy your food more? I think most people would answer yes to at least two of those, and that is enough to know the habit is working. If you notice no difference at all, then slow chewing may not be your main problem, and that is useful to know too. Either way, a week of trying costs nothing, and it gives you an honest answer from your own body.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is why is chewing your food well important something I should think about every day?

Yes, in a simple way. Chewing well is a daily habit, not a one-time fix. If you chew your food properly at most meals, your stomach has less work to do and you are more likely to feel comfortable afterwards. You do not need to think about it constantly, but it is worth making slow chewing your normal way of eating rather than something you do only once in a while.

How long does it take to notice anything from why is chewing your food well important?

Many people notice a difference within a few days. Meals may feel lighter, and the heavy, bloated feeling after eating too fast may happen less often. The change in fullness can take a little longer to notice, because it depends on giving your brain about twenty minutes to catch up. Try it for one to two weeks at most meals and see how your stomach feels.

Can why is chewing your food well important fit into a busy workday?

Yes, it can, even on a busy day. You do not need a long lunch break. Sitting down for ten minutes, taking smaller bites, and putting your fork down between bites is enough to slow the meal down. Even slowing down at one meal a day is a useful start, and it is far better than trying to be perfect at every meal and giving up.

What is the simplest way to start with why is chewing your food well important?

The simplest start is to take smaller bites and chew each one until the food is soft before you swallow. Put your spoon or fork down after each bite and do not pick it up again until you have swallowed. Sit down to eat, and put your phone away for the first few minutes. Those three small changes are enough to begin.

Does why is chewing your food well important work the same way for everyone?

No, it does not feel the same for everyone. Most people feel more comfortable and more satisfied when they chew well, but the exact effect depends on what you eat, how fast you usually eat, and the state of your teeth and stomach. People with dental pain or a stomach condition may need extra help, and general information can never replace personal advice.

What should I do if why is chewing your food well important does not suit me?

If chewing hurts, or if you feel pain, choking or lasting discomfort after meals even when you chew slowly, do not force it. See a dentist if chewing is painful, and speak to a health professional if stomach problems keep happening. Slow chewing helps with common discomfort from fast eating, but it is not a treatment for illness.

Sources

This article is general information only. It is not medical advice and it does not diagnose, treat, or cure anything. For personal concerns, speak to a qualified health professional.