Did you know that summer can be the season when we experience more bloating? In fact, there are plenty of foods and drinks consumed during the warmer months, such as cocktails and foods high in sodium that can be triggers.
However, what many might not know, is that not chewing food properly can actually contribute towards bloating.
Below Dr Smita Mehra, BDS MFGDPRC, Principal Dentist at The Neem Tree Dental Practice, has explained exactly how not chewing food properly can contribute towards bloating this summer:
What are some of the causes of bloating during the summer?
“There are several possible causes of bloating. Certain types of foods can naturally cause bloating, as can certain allergies and intolerances to different foods.
“However, bloating is also often caused by gas or air getting trapped in the stomach, causing it to extend or expand. This is usually caused by issues with chewing. One of the ways this can happen is because you’ve rushed your eating process – you’ve simply eaten your food too quickly.
“You may have been accused of ‘inhaling your food’ before. Well, sometimes that’s literally true! When you swallow food too quickly, without chewing properly, or with poor posture, you’ve also swallowed air along with it. This air then gets trapped in the digestive tract and causes that feeling of bloating we all hate.
Why do we bloat when we eat too quickly?
“If you’re eating on the go, you’re probably in a bit of a rush and not giving too much thought to chewing properly. You’re also probably walking (or at least standing up).
“These factors combined, lead to food not being properly digested and air being swallowed along with it.
“Talking or slouching while eating can also cause air pockets within the digestive tract too. If you’re lying down or walking around, that will not lead to proper digestion. It could go down the wrong tube but it’s also going to cause air pockets and lead to bloating.
How can you reduce bloating and chew your food properly?
“Take a break, sit down, and focus on eating for 5 minutes. The key to reducing the air and bloating is to chew the food properly. The more you chew or masticate, the more it is digested physically.
“This is the purpose of the molars – the dips and bumps on the teeth. The better chewed your food is, the easier to digest it will be – and this all starts in the mouth. The more you chew, the more saliva you make, which breaks it all down in the mouth.
“If you swallow a burger whole, there’s not much saliva produced and a whole lot of air is swallowed. This means that the stomach is going to have a much harder time breaking it down. The more your stomach has to work, the worse it’s going to feel in the long run. Getting the process started properly in the mouth makes things easier on your tummy.
What foods can cause bloating if not eaten properly?
“The worst foods for this are heavy meats like steak. Although other foods like legumes can cause bloating on their own naturally, it’s heavy meat that will cause bloating if you’re not chewing it well enough.
“Things like steak require more chewing, maybe up to 50 times per bite. That is the optimum statistic but not something likely to be followed strictly in real life. Just make sure you’re chewing long enough that the food loses its texture at least. Chew equally on both sides, if you’re avoiding one side there may be a dental issue and you’re probably making it worse by doing that.
How can you make sure you are chewing your food properly?
- Adjust your chewing
“Adjust your chewing to what you’re eating (nuts and steak need more for instance), but foods affect people in different ways – it’s not all dental. Do a food diary and figure out which foods are causing you to bloat more.
“The best thing for bloating from a dental point of view is to chew properly. As dentists, we need to make sure patients have an optimum equilibrium of the mouth – teeth working together on all sides of the jaw. However, the most common causes of not chewing properly are missing, damaged, painful, or misaligned teeth. If there’s something wrong with your bite, there’s something wrong with your chew!
- Get regular dental check-ups
“Regular dental checkups are essential to avoid all of this. We often see people who say they haven’t had a checkup in ten years but have no dental issues.
We ask do you have any digestive issues and they say yes – it’s often because unrealised dental issues like missing teeth or malaligned teeth are contributing to digestive issues like bloating. TMJ, lack of vitamin D, Arthritis – any of these can affect your jaw and your ability to chew – we check on all of these things in checkups.
- Make sure dentures fit properly
“It’s not just natural teeth, though – dentures are also a big culprit if they haven’t been seated properly. If they’re not seated securely – the lower jaw is notorious for ill-fitting as the tongue doesn’t like anything taking up its space – then that will affect your ability to chew your food properly.
4. Consider the impact of stress and teeth-grinding
“Grinding and bruxism can also cause real problems with chewing. Teeth grinding is often a stress response. It’s tooth to tooth rather than tooth-to-food. If you’re stressed then you’re probably rushing around. This means that not only are you not chewing enough in a rush, but you’re also causing damage to your own teeth with grinding.
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