Just wondering.
Mastication is an important part of digestion, especially when it comes to carbs. Salivary Amylase begins the breakdown during chewing.
That said, fats and proteins are acted upon more in the stomach and small intestine. But larger pieces are more difficult to breakdown without being finely processed (aka chewed). Only finely broken down into molecules will be absorbed. The rest will be… passed down the line, so to speak.
no most likely not. chewing food is the first process of mechanical breakdown, and enzymes in the saliva are the first process of chemical breakdown. not chewing food is going to prevent the mechanic breakdown, not increasing surface area for enzymatic action (and likely having that food in your mouth for a shorter period of time because of not chewing) will mean little enzymatic breakdown - this means the food isn’t broken down well, and it leaves the rest of the GI tract to make up for this. this not only causes additional strain on the Gi tract (which can increase likelihood of digestive diseases), but it likely leaves food partially digested and thus reducing absorption of nutrients from these foods.
I was recently diagnosed with IBS and one of the “management tools” the Drs have given me is to chew my food thoroughly before swallowing. IBS is not curable but is manageable and I will say it has made a big difference for my symptoms since I used to be a super fast eater and was swallowing big bites.
I doubt you get a direct answer. No one will be able to answer this. Yes digestion technically starts in the mouth. But, to strictly answer your question .. won’t happen . Or shouldn’t because no one will actually know, 100% . And every food is different too. Swallowing a rice, 1 blueberry, 0.4 oz of meat, etc … you get my point.
Regardless. It could be a choking hazard & that’s more important to worry about