How do you chew and swallow food (in detail)

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Long time mouth breather, first time poster to ELI5.

I’m in my late 30s, and I realise l’ve been chewing and swallowing food wrong my whole life, and am bugging the heck out of my loved ones with questions… but I still need answers, so please take a moment to help me out.

When you chew food, do you use both sides of your mouth equally?

Do you swallow an entire mouthful’s worth of food in one go? Or does it slide down your throat bit by bit as you are chewing?

Where does your tongue go while you’re chewing?

Do you chew up and down or kind of grindy side to side?

I know I sound like an alien or an Al but I’m just an undiagnosed tongue tie kid with a weirdly high palate whose tongue has been hanging about the bottom of my mouth like a slug for the last few decades.

In: Biology

14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

dude this is wild but also super relatable. i think using both sides is key so you dont tire out one side. you gotta chew until its mushy but dont rush the swallow. i guess the tongue helps push food dowm but it’s like a sneak attack. and yeah don’t forget to enjoy your food like a chill alien munching on snacks

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