Smoothies: Something to Chew On
Dr Brayden thinks his smoothies are the best…
I drink a smoothie almost every morning. I am renowned for my tasty mixes! One of the best parts about morning shakes is that they’re an easy to get a nice dose of green veggies, providing tremendous nutritional benefit in our world of processed junk food. Plus, when smoothies get blended the nutrients become highly bioavailable. It makes digestion way easier. Having these benefits on-the-go make these shakes a bit of a life-hack. Maybe you are a smoothie king or queen yourself! But there is a downside to smoothies you should know about.
The downside is you don’t have to chew them!
Work smarter, not harder
In this blog, I’m going to argue that you should consider chewing your morning smoothie.
Chewing is only a small amount of added effort, and believe it or not, in this case working harder is working smarter.
If you chew your smoothie, you will:
Eat fewer calories, and feel full longer
Optimize digestive hormone levels
Be less stressed
Exercise and possibly develop a more attractive jawline
Eat less, and feel full longer
The fact that blenders liquify our food so efficiently means that things which normally take a longer time and more energy for your gut to break down are ready for the gut’s nutrient processing. The efficiency of the breakdown mean the gut has less work to do, and processes the food more quickly. Research has also shown our gut-brain-axis has more trouble registering calories from a liquid than from a solid. This is in part because chewing slows us down, but also because it releases gut hormones that signal satiety- something drinking does not do. More info on that below. So with a smoothie, you will be more likely to consume more calories before you feel full, and you are more likely to be hungry sooner than if you had eaten the shake elements in their original form. This could be a downside for those trying to lose weight, or those who are trying to feel full til lunch!
Optimize hormones
Hormonally, drinking calories has some disadvantages as well. Research has shown that gut hormones respond to the chewing action- these hormones not only influence hunger, but also blood sugar levels. Research is ongoing, but these studies suggest increased chewing may be an effective tool to help with weight loss and blood sugar regulation. It is also clear that optimizing hormone levels is critical for people suffering from Crohn’s, leaky gut, IBS, and the like.
Chewing also helps mix foods with your saliva. The enzymes in saliva are the first step in the digestive process, and help prepare food for easier digestion in the rest of your gut. This is arguably less important with a protein shake though, since the blender physically breaks down the food so efficiently for us.
Relieve Stress
Do you clench or grind your teeth when you’re stressed? That’s pretty common, and it's known that chewing is related to stress reduction. While there can be many root causes for clenching and grinding, it certainly can be a coping mechanism to help relieve stress. And chewing food does the same thing for stress reduction.
Work out!
I’d especially advocate chewing for growing children. There’s a well-documented epidemic of small jaws in developed countries, leading to increased need for orthodontics, diminished breathing ability, and poor facial esthetics. That’s why “Mewing” has become so popular. Western societies eat more soft, processed foods. Our jaws aren’t developing like they used to because we don’t chew like we used to! When we don’t exercise our jaws in our youth, they don’t grow to the proper size. Part of the problem is our new, processed foods are less nutritious, but the majority of the blame is on a lack of chewing in childhood. I’ll write more about this in a future blog post.
So what?
Did I convince you? Just take a sip, chew a few times, then swallow and repeat. You may also consider chewing gum after drinking the smoothie for some of the same benefit. Hopefully I’ve given you some food for thought- chew on that if you like!
