Chewing Gargling the mouth
It is not only what you eat, but also how you eat that often makes the difference between your good health and your bad health. Chewing the food thoroughly would enable better digestion and assimilation of what you eat. Similarly, ensuring proper cleanliness of your grinding equipment – mouth, which includes your teeth, gums, cheek and tongue – would also ensure its better preservation for longer life. Let us see how. Read on.
Chewing
Most adults have at least 14 pairs of functional teeth on the upper jaw and an equal number on the lower jaw (Wisdom Teeth often fail to erupt or erupt improperly). Of these 14 pairs, ten, known as molars, help in chewing the food. The primary purpose of teeth is not decoration. While God has made every exposed item of our body aesthetically pleasing, each one has a primary function, hence we must put them to use accordingly. The molars (chewing teeth) must be used for chewing.
The role of the mouth in handling solid food is to facilitate chewing before sending it down the throat into the stomach. Even while the teeth do their part in breaking down lumps of food into tiny fragments, which makes digestion easier, the two enzymes found in the saliva, namely amylase (ptyalin) and lingual lipase assist in partial digestion of the starch and the fat contents of the food, respectively. The tongue does the mixing and pushing job. When we chew the food thoroughly before swallowing, we put less strain on the stomach; and the stomach is free to handle the next stage of digestion more efficiently. (Also see diabetes in this website, in this connection).
Human dentures are not comparable to those of dogs and wolves who, in their natural habitats, must bite off and swallow chunks of meat in a hurry. Their stomach is well equipped to digest this. If the dogs and wolves were to keep chewing every chunk of meat, their companions would not leave them a second morsel! We humans do not have to worry about such a situation in normal life. That is why God has gifted us with taste buds in abundance so that we may enjoy the food we eat while the saliva and the grinding (chewing) teeth do their job faithfully. If we bypass this God-appointed route, by swallowing the food without chewing well, we will have to face the consequences. (Also see diabetes in this website in this connection).
Gargling the mouth
It is a healthy habit to gargle the mouth with water thoroughly after eating anything. Or else you are sure to leave behind many food particles that would start working upon your gums and enamel of the teeth. Sweets and non-vegetarian items (fish, meat, eggs) will facilitate harmful bacterial action much faster.
Bad breath, too, is often an outcome of imperfect cleansing of mouth after eating. While you may reserve brushing teeth with toothpaste for the night and the morning, gargling the mouth is important each time after eating anything.
Mouthwash
Many mouthwash products have benefits and often save our face during important occasions; but they are never a substitute for keeping the mouth clear of left-over food particles. You can read Lucy Elkins, PubMed, and High Park Dental Care for additional information on mouthwash products and form your own opinion.
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