The habit of eating too fast and not chewing thoroughly is common in urban areas and can easily cause obesity and stomach damage.

Eating too fast and not chewing thoroughly is a common habit in urban areas where life is fast-paced, but this habit has caused many negative effects on health.

Doctors recommend chewing each piece 20-50 times to crush and mix well with saliva before swallowing, and not eating while looking at the phone - Illustration: HUONG LY

MSc. Nguyen Trong Tin - University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Campus 3 - said that many people with this habit often experience symptoms of continuous belching, accompanied by bloating after every meal.

This phenomenon is called aerophagia, a term that refers to the swallowing of a significant amount of air into the digestive tract while eating or talking.

This condition is common in people with gastroesophageal reflux, peptic ulcers, and indigestion - a condition caused by the habit of eating too quickly, which is very harmful to the digestive system.

The reason is eating too fast, putting a large amount of food into the mouth, chewing it quickly and swallowing it continuously in a short time. This habit is common in urban environments, where the fast pace of life and work pressure shortens the time for eating.

Doctor Tin analyzed that the digestive process begins as soon as we see or smell food. The parasympathetic nervous system stimulates the salivary glands, gastric glands, and pancreas to secrete digestive juices.

When tasting and chewing, the salivary glands secrete amylase to break down starch, while the mechanical grinding action reduces the size of food, helping to reduce the load on the stomach.

The stomach receives food and contracts, mixing it with gastric juice and many different enzymes to digest proteins, fats, and starches in food, while controlling the rate of food being ejected into the duodenum.

This entire chain of reactions requires careful coordination between organs and takes a certain amount of time to achieve optimal results.

If we eat too fast, the body will not have time to complete the above physiological reactions, leading to reduced mechanical digestion.

Food is not crushed, the contact area with digestive enzymes is reduced, causing amylase in saliva to work less effectively, causing the stomach to contract more strongly to compensate, easily causing smooth muscle fatigue and slowing down stomach emptying.

At the same time, suddenly overloading the stomach, large amounts of food going down quickly causes strong expansion of the stomach wall, easily irritating the mucosa, especially in people with existing ulcers, will make symptoms more severe.

In addition, it also disrupts the coordination of the esophagus and stomach. When swallowing continuously, the lower esophageal sphincter must open and close quickly, increasing the risk of reflux due to high stomach pressure pushing acid back up the esophagus.

In addition, eating fast also reduces satiety signals. The satiety center in the hypothalamus needs about 15-20 minutes to receive enough signals; eating fast causes the amount of calories consumed to exceed the need, leading to weight gain and obesity.

It also increases the risk of bloating and indigestion because swallowing quickly is often accompanied by swallowing a lot of air, combined with slow digestion causing gas in the stomach and intestines, causing bloating and belching.

Therefore, to have a healthy digestive system, we need to eat properly. When eating, we need to use all our senses such as looking at colors, smelling scents, feeling flavors, listening to chewing sounds... to help stimulate the maximum digestive secretion reflex. In addition, we need to avoid eating while working, watching the phone or thinking stressfully.

How to eat properly?

Doctor Tin recommends chewing thoroughly and swallowing slowly, chewing each bite 20-50 times to grind it and mix it well with saliva before swallowing; after swallowing, wait a few seconds before putting the next food into your mouth, helping the stomach process each small batch.

A main meal should be eaten within 20-30 minutes to ensure that satiety signals are effective.

Proper eating habits not only help the digestive system function optimally, but also improve weight control and reduce the risk of long-term digestive diseases.

HUONG LY

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thoi-quen-an-qua-nhanh-nhai-khong-ky-gap-nhieu-o-do-thi-de-gay-beo-phi-hong-da-day-20250905162555292.htm