Chewing More Increases Energy Expenditure: The Surprising Dietary Effects of Mastication Revealed by Science

Recent studies have made it clear that the recommendation to “chew your food well” during a diet is not just about preventing fast eating. It has been revealed that the act of chewing itself directly increases the body’s energy expenditure.

Why Chewing is Directly Linked to Weight Loss

After humans consume a meal, energy is expended to digest and absorb the ingested nutrients, causing a temporary increase in resting metabolic rate. This phenomenon is known as Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT).

A study by Hamada and Hayashi (2021) demonstrated a clear relationship between DIT and the number of chews. According to the research findings, increasing the number of chews during a meal significantly increases gastrointestinal blood flow, which in turn significantly increases energy expenditure due to Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT).

In other words, even when consuming a meal with the exact same caloric content, simply “chewing well” increases post-meal energy consumption.

3 Major Benefits of Increasing Chewing Count

From the aforementioned study, it is understood that chewing brings about the following crucial effects for dieting, in addition to increasing DIT.

• Metabolism Boost: The act of eating itself transforms into an activity that consumes more energy.
• Overeating Prevention Support: Chewing well appropriately stimulates the brain’s satiety center, preventing the intake of excess calories.
• Improved Digestion and Absorption: Because food is finely crushed, the burden on the gastrointestinal tract is reduced, allowing nutrients to be utilized smoothly.

Approaches to Cultivating an Ideal Chewing Habit

It is generally considered ideal to “chew 30 times per bite,” but it is unrealistic and highly stressful for busy modern people to accurately count the number of chews during every meal.

Therefore, a system is needed to unconsciously acquire proper chewing habits.

Habituation Support via “MoguExercise”

MoguExercise is an app designed to scientifically manage chewing and make habituation enjoyable. It is reported that the app provides the following features:

• Visualization of Chewing: Users can grasp with data how well they are actually chewing.
• Scientific Guidance: Optimal chewing patterns are presented based on the user’s current status.
• Designs to Encourage Continuation: Because users can engage with it like a game, proper habits become established without giving up easily.

It has been scientifically shown that simply changing one’s awareness of every “bite” in daily meals can aid in long-term health and diet.