On the Importance of Thorough Chewing for Good Digestion:

Enzymes released in our saliva jumpstart the digestion of carbs and fats, sanitize our food, and protect us against fungi like Candida. This is part of the reason why chewing our food well is so important.

If we chew bread, potatoes or another starch for a while, it will start tasting sweet. This is because amylase, an enzyme present in our saliva, starts breaking the starch down into separate glucose molecules. Humans produce at least 3 times as much amylase in our mouths compared to our closest relatives, the great apes, showing that starch has been a major constituent of our diets from an evolutionary perspective. Amylase also helps to dissolve and digest any starch that might get stuck to our teeth where we can’t reach it, effectively acting as a “biochemical toothbrush.” Lingual lipase is another digestive enzyme released in the mouth, this one responsible for kickstarting the digestion of fats.

The enzyme lysozyme and the protein lactoferrin are other important constituents of saliva. These two are antibacterial and part of our immune system. They help us kill any pathogens that might be contaminating our food (and prevent cavities too). Histatins are a family of over a dozen peptides released in our saliva, which kill bad bacteria in our food and protect the mouth against the overgrowth of fungi such as Candida. Proline-rich proteins in saliva, such as the protein IB-5, bind to certain anti-nutrients and plant compounds that can be toxic in large amounts to prevent their absorption and protect our digestive system against them. These are just a few of the many constituents of our saliva that help us digest food.

All in all, properly chewing foods and allowing them to mix with saliva is paramount to good digestion.

- Excerpt from my article: How to Finally Heal Your Gut