Monday 23 November 2009

Chewie...

Nah, I'm not going to blog about Star War's Chewbacca. Just using his nick to blog about myself - well, more like on my (some said weird) habit of chewing my food 24 times before I swallow it.

Yes, you read it right... I chew my food twenty-four times before I swallow it. Saying this also makes my mouth tired... :P

Before I begin, I would like to declare I am NOT a weirdo. I don't do this out of curiosity or boredom or to audition myself for the role of "World's Weird Mummy Who Got Nothing Better to Do Than to Chew Her Food 24 Times" for Guiness World of Records.

Now how the heck do I get myself into this? From as far as I can remember, I was watching this programme on TV and found that it is good to chew food at least 24 times before you swallow it.

I started out trying to count to 24 times while chewing before I swallow my food, and soon enough, I automatically chew at least 24 times before I swallow my food.

I think I was just entering my teens then. So since then, it was 24 times of chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew-chew before I swallow my foods.

Of course, this does not apply when I am having fruits or drinks or liquids. It gets really tiring sometimes not to mention painful especially when I had my frequent mouth ulcers. It's also disgusting when I had to do this while eating veggie since I'm an anti-vegetarian.

Now that I'm all grown up and had time to surf the Net to find out info on stuff, let me show you the goodness of chewing food so many times before you go on thinking I'm a cuckoo lady... hehehe...

Why Chew? (Source from this article)
* The process of chewing is a vital component of the digestive activities that occur in the mouth, inextricably linked to good digestion, and therefore, good health.
* The action of chewing mechanically breaks down very large aggregates of food molecules into smaller particles. This results in the food having increased surface area, an important contributing factor to good digestion.
* In addition to the obvious benefit of reduced esophageal stress that accompanies swallowing smaller, versus larger, pieces of food, there is another very important benefit to chewing your food well that comes with its ability to be exposed to saliva for a longer period of time.
* When food is not well chewed and the food fragments are too big to be properly broken down, incomplete digestion occurs. Not only do nutrients not get extracted from the food but undigested food becomes fodder for bacteria in the colon which can lead to bacterial overgrowth, flatulence and other symptoms of indigestion.
* Chewing relaxes the lower stomach muscle
* Chewing triggers the rest of the digestive process
* It will cause you to slow down when you are eating, making more space for the enjoyment of your meal.

And there's this article which encourages the Japanese to chew their food at least 30 times before swallowing as a key to good health.

So there you have it. I'm not a weirdo. Phewwww.... :P

11 comments:

Ashley said...

Stopping by from SITS.

Welcome!

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Hi Ashley!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! :D

Anonymous said...

Jenny, I have something to ask u ar. Since Ben is already 9months old. Do you realize he takes lesser breastmilk? as in does the suckling time reduce? and do u express your milk using breastpump??

I feel like my milk production has gone down. Somehow still enough lar. Just so hard to pump out.. any tips to share?

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Hi Lynette,

I think when Ben turned 4-5mths, his suckling time is down to 5-10mins each feed. This is not because less BM but more to him being more experienced in suckling and able to suckle faster and more now though it may appears as if so fast suckle = less BM.

I don't really use breast pump anymore (the last I used was like when Ben is initially on solids since I mixed EBM with cereals).

I prefer the hand express method (manually express with own hands no gadget lah..) but when I'm lazy and need to store EBM fast, then I use my trusty Medela pump.

Try to boil this black soy bean thing which my MIL occassionally make for me. Apparently it helps to increase the BM lah. Other ppl told me just drink more water/liquids.

If you are SAHM and with your baby all the time, breastfeed as much as possible to keep up the production :)

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Oh one more thing Lynette,

I've blogged previously on "How I Make My Breastfeeding Works?" (http://imafulltimemummy.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-do-i-make-my-breastfeeding-works.html)

But it's more for mums-to-be lah... :P

Anonymous said...

Jenny, thanks for sharing. WIll try the black soy bean. I am feeding him on demand daily. Just troublesome when I have to express with breastpump. some how only able to express 3-4oz max makes me worry!!:) paranoid mom..

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Eh Lynette,

Since you are feeding your boy on demand daily, why need to express leh? For storage or what?

Anonymous said...

Jenny, For storage lo. Cause sometimes i will leave him with my in law, then i lazy to express out mar. And sometimes i would like to have more storage so my elder one can drink also. hehehe I used to stored up 1 whole month supply. Then all my elder drink up when it's approching the expiry..

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Wah Lynette, so good you still can store. For me, if I plan to go out longer, I will express the day before and on the day before I go out. But I don't really go out without Ben also, so not much need to store.

Plus after reading from some website to be careful in case of no electricity also I don't feel there is a need to store a lot also :P

Mark said...

Always about breastmilk >.<

Anyway, I chew a lot too, mainly because I have a very small mouth. It also means I eat very slowly, and digest my food properly, which contributes to my BMI of 18.9. :)

Regards
Mark
http://earlychildcare.wordpress.com/

I'm a full-time mummy said...

Mark!

Good for you! But I think when you get married, you'll eat more already! ;p

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