“Let ME tell you how IMPORTANT chewing is.”
Can you name a food that you swallow whole without
chewing first? Think about it! Every type of food
you eat, you CHEW before swallowing. Well, there is
a scientific reason for that. The most important
part of digestion actually takes place in the
mouth. Your teeth break apart food into small
particles and your saliva, which contains 3
digestive enzymes, breaks down the proteins, fats
and carbohydrates… and this takes place even before
you swallow. If you swallow vitamins and minerals
in pill form, you are skipping this vital part of
the digestive process and many of these nutrients
will never completely absorb in your body. In fact,
some vitamin companies use binders, fillers and
hard chemical coatings that diminish absorption.
Hospital orderlies often refer to these undigested
pills and tablets that pass through a person’s
intestinal track as “bedpan bullets”.
After conducting tests on 17 brand name vitamins for dissolvability, Integrated Biomolecule Corporation, a well-known pharmaceutical lab concluded: “At theend of the recommended USP dissolution time of 2 hours, none of the products were considered fully dissolved. In fact, some of the pills werenot completely dissolved even after 12 hours”! By comparison, Chews-4-Health chew tabs are fully broken down in less than 40 seconds and digestion begins even BEFORE reaching thestomach. This leads to QUICKER ABSORPTION AND ASSIMILATION! Also, during the act of chewing, your brain sends signals to the stomach preparing it for proper digestion.
After conducting tests on 17 brand name vitamins for dissolvability, Integrated Biomolecule Corporation, a well-known pharmaceutical lab concluded: “At theend of the recommended USP dissolution time of 2 hours, none of the products were considered fully dissolved. In fact, some of the pills werenot completely dissolved even after 12 hours”! By comparison, Chews-4-Health chew tabs are fully broken down in less than 40 seconds and digestion begins even BEFORE reaching thestomach. This leads to QUICKER ABSORPTION AND ASSIMILATION! Also, during the act of chewing, your brain sends signals to the stomach preparing it for proper digestion.
WHY A CHEWABLE?
Chewing is a "no brainer." There is a proven science behind it. Really!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND CHEWING
Watch these videos and see for yourself a real life demonstration on the important roll CHEWING plays in proper digestion vs. SWALLOWING something in a whole form.
CHEWING
Chewing your food starts with the aid of your teeth. Chewing well grinds food into small bits, allowing it tobe more easily swallowed. If you don’t chew your food properly before swallowing, it can severely irritate the esophagus and can actually lead to tearing and scraping of your throat. Well-chewed bits of food are more easily coated with digestive juices once in the stomach.
The body uses much less of its energy trying to digest well-chewed food than hastily chewed and swallowed food.
Chewing well also allows the molecules of nutrients from inside the food to be more quickly released and assimilated.
Keeping food in the mouth longer and chewing it well allows the food’s flavors to be recognized by the tongue. Once the tongue recognizes the flavor, it sends a message to the brain, which in turn sends messages to the digestive system resulting in the release of the correct digestive juices needed for that particular food.
SALIVA
Digestion begins in the mouth, well before food reaches the stomach. When we see, smell, taste, or even imagine a tasty meal, our salivary glands, which are located under the tongue and near the lower jaw, begin producing saliva. This flow of saliva is set in motion by a brain reflex that's triggered when we sense food or think about eating. In response to this sensory stimulation, the brain sends impulses through the nerves that control the salivary glands, telling them to prepare for a meal.
As the teeth tear and chop the food, saliva moistens it for easy swallowing. The enzymes amylase and lipase present in saliva start the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates (starches and sugars) even before it leaves the mouth. While this is happening, the chewing of the food stimulates the production of digestive enzymes in the stomach.
Saliva moistens the molecules of dry foods so that we can taste the foods when we eat them. The body is incapable of distinguishing many flavors in food that is dry. Our saliva binds masticated food bits into a bolus, which we can swallow easily. The mouth is almost constantly flowing with saliva, which flushes away food debris and protects your teeth from decay. Salivary glands also secrete lysozyme, an enzyme which actually kills some bacteria. Saliva acts as a first defense against bacterial infection. By chewing food well and creating more surface area on which the saliva can act, more potential food-borne bacteria can be killed.
ANATOMY OF CHEWING
You have 3 pairs of major salivary glands and a few minor pairs located throughout your mouth. The salivary glands create saliva, which is then secreted into your mouth via the salivary ducts.
The first pair of salivary glands are the Parotid Glands (1). These glands, located just under the ears, produce a serous solution. The oral serous solution is clear and watery, and contains the digestive enzyme amylase, also known as ptyalin. It is no wonder that these salivary glands are the ones most associated with carbohydrate digestion. The ducts for these glands are near your upper teeth.
The Submaxillary glands (2), also known as the Submandibular glands , are located near the jawbone, secrete both serous and mucous saliva. The saliva reaches your oral cavity via ducts located under your tongue. The Submaxillary glands and the Sublingual glands also produce salivary amylase.
The Sublingual glands (3) are located under the tongue and produce a saliva that is primarily mucous. Mucous saliva is thick and gluey. It binds the masticated (chewed) food into a bolus as well as lubricating the esophagus. The ducts for these glands are located on the floor of your mouth.
