Mouth magic! (otherwise known as the chemistry that occurs from the secretion of enzymes in saliva).
Amylase is an enzyme present in our saliva. The purpose of this enzyme calls to its placement -the breakdown of starches- in the mouth. Carbohydrates, of any form, processed or whole, are made up of digestible and utilizable sugars.
When food is gnashed down with voracious speed, a lost opportunity is created. Carbs, whether it be sandwich bread, fruits, fried potatoes, macrobiotic organic brown rice, or any other deliciousness, will not receive the same care and attention in the stomach. The stomach has the role of churning the bolus (any food swallowed) and mixing it with the powerfully acidic hydrochloric acid. This acid does fantastic work of taking apart proteins and separating minerals and like most chemical reactions, there must a certain amount for things to work properly. Too little and digestion is steeply impaired, further lowering the amount that carbs are successfully broken down. Usually, food eaten quickly means the stomach has not had adequate time to prepare, and add stress into the equation, and voila, chewing is minimized, the stomach is stressed and that stuffing will take far longer to digest than necessary.
By chewing fully, gnashing that pasta to transform into a mushy mix, means that you’ve helped yourself by prepping the stomach, allowing the signaling that occurs in the stomach to reach the small intestine for further enzymatic processing of the carbs.
All that to say, chew up those carbs!
