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Masticate and spit: good diet strategy or bad diet strategy?

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Zaptruder

Banned
Lately, I've among other things (exercising, watching food intake, making sure I'm eating healthily for the most part, etc) adopted a habit of eating chocolate or other small bite sized unhealthy but tasty foods), but not swallowing and instead spitting it out.

In my mind, it's a pretty good strategy. As long as you have a sink nearby (I eat chocolate in the kitchen), it's not too messy either.

And in my growing experience, it is in some sense more satisfying that eating it normally; because you're trying to avoid swallowing it, you're chewing the chocolate longer, making sure that you've masticated very finely (so that it'll go down the sink easily enough as well).

On the other hand, I can't quite shake the lingering thought that there may be some negative health reprecussion that I'm overlooking by doing this, maybe causing extra and unnecessary wear on my teeth (but it's not bulimia).

Or is it possible that I've 'found' (so far as I've turned a blind eye to the obvious grossness of spitting food out, and accepted all its benefits) the one way to have my cake and eat it too... literally (and proverbially).

What say you GAF? Is this madness? Does anyone else do this? Maybe there'll be a groundswell of masticator-spitters, and one day it'll be socially acceptable to ask for a spitting dish at a restaraunt.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Omie said:
It may not be bulimia but it sure sounds like an eating disorder.

That was my initial reaction to it too... but shit, I'm flipping it over it my logical brain and I just can't find a con to it. I mean, other than the whole suppressing the swallow mechanism which is tricky and awkward.

But that's overrated too.

I've also considered what it'll do to the pipes and water way. It won't do much worse than piss and shit that's for sure.
 

Shanadeus

Banned
Jesus what a waste of food, you ought to be ashamed of eating for pleasure's sake when children in africa are forced to eat dirt.
I do hope this isn't something that'll ever catch on. There's been studies done here in Sweden about how much of the food we produce end up as waste, and I believe the number is 25%.
It might be higher in the US
 

Zaptruder

Banned
jorma said:
It sounds gross at the very least.

To be fair, I'm not really doing this in front of other people.

Shanadeus said:
Jesus what a waste of food, you ought to be ashamed of eating for pleasure's sake when children in africa are forced to eat dirt.
I do hope this isn't something that'll eve catch on, I believe there's already a 25% waste or something of all the food we produce.

I dunno if you're been serious with your first comment... and I don't even know what you mean with the 25% thing.

Seriously though... outside of the initial emotional reaction of "ew that's gross"... are there any compelling logical arguments against doing this?

No one eats sweets/treats for sustenance (or at least no one should).
 

Daigoro

Member
Zaptruder said:
That was my initial reaction to it too... but shit, I'm flipping it over it my logical brain and I just can't find a con to it. I mean, other than the whole suppressing the swallow mechanism which is tricky and awkward.

But that's overrated too.

I've also considered what it'll do to the pipes and water way. It won't do much worse than piss and shit that's for sure.

how about the fact that its insane?
 

Zaptruder

Banned
-COOLIO- said:
it sounds like peeing and then holding it in

but whatever works.

It kinda is... except there's no real reason to stop the pee stream.

a better analogy with the peeing and holding it in thing is if the first second of your pee were like an orgasm.

People would be pee stop-starting ALL THE TIME!
 

BowieZ

Banned
I hate to judge, but I've been there before (kinda), and I gotta say... this practice is basically an eating disorder, and I say this with the sincerest of intentions. I wish for your well-being, but dude, reconsider this strategy. It may not feel like one, at the moment, but at the very least... it's definitely a path to one.

But armchair psychiatry is just as bad... so we're right where we started.
 

Mistouze

user-friendly man-cashews
Fucking weird man. It's more sensible to start doing some sport instead. Being sore from sport feels so good I'm sure it can get addicting.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
BowieZ said:
I hate to judge, but I've been there before (kinda), and I gotta say... this practice is basically an eating disorder, and I say this with the sincerest of intentions. I wish for your well-being, but dude, reconsider this strategy.

I think the biggest con of this strategy is similar to how drinking diet soda won't give you the ill-effects of sugars, but it will make you more inclined to sugary foods.

But accepting that as a caveat... are there any other problems that you've found in your experience that I should be aware of?
 

Rewrite

Not as deep as he thinks
This is the first time I have read about something like this. How weird. Like others have mentioned, if you continue doing this, you're going to develop an eating disorder. Thinking about chewing food and then spitting it out is daunting.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
wenis said:

Hmm.

Reading that, I'm inclined to think that it could develop into an eating disorder... but as with many things in life, moderation is required.

I suppose for this strategy to be effective in weight loss, you'd have to engage in it repeatedly (I don't... once a day for a few grams of chocolate for the most part) which seems like it could develop some pretty bad psychological conditioning.

The article unfortunately delves into a bit of bullcrap " Some argue that the breakdown allows the sugar to be absorbed through the mouth into the body, thus causing actual calorie ingestion. ", even if it does qualify for it.

In the end, I do suppose it's far healthier to exercise the will to abstain from these foods than to try 'cheat the system'... but in the throes of a dramatic lifestyle change, it can be difficult to keep that in mind all the time.

Just read some of the comments on that site...

Hi There, I am 36 years old & have been: C&S since the age of 18. So... basically almost 19yrs!!! It is so bad & so addictive It controls my life & i use almost evry single cent to purchase sweets on a daily basis. I have done a few calculations & i most definatley have spent approx. $1oo,ooo.oo the 2 decades. I am an active gym member & i watch what i eat during the day. I am 5'2 (158cms) & 116lbs (53kgs) which is not too bad??!! But i want to be leaner & i know C&S high calorie foods is stopping me from reducing my body fat %. I was in denial, up until last year. Thinking that calories were not ingested. So.. after i can 10kgs (22lbs) in 6 months, whilst eating healthy and being at the gym, 2 hours per day, 7 days per week. I came to realize that Chewing & Spitting out: Chocolate Blocks, Whole Cakes, Trays of Biscuits, Litres of Ice Cream..... on a weekly basis. Created the weight gain. I decided to try & stop, after a chew & spit chocolate block incident.

Yikes. Yeah, I can see where people are thinking it's an eating disorder, because lets face it... in that kinda case, it really is.

But it's a matter of extent... is this slope slipperier than most?

Well... I'll see. I'll indulge a daily sweet tooth, with the 'chew and spit'... but I'll be checking in to a doctor should I reach the stage of a chocolate block a day (using this method).
 

Mistouze

user-friendly man-cashews
Duuude a few grams of chocolate is good for you, especially if you're trying to lose some weight I think. Use the opportunity to become a dark chocolate snob!
 
How is this different then eating and then throwing up? It is a eating disorder.

Also it's not even a smart strategy in my book. Lets say you hit your target weight/look, what then? Are you planning to keep this up the rest of your life?

If you want to lose weight and keep it off you need to make lasting changes in your eating habits. Not extreme shit like starving, throwing up and chewing and spitting.
 

DoomGyver

Member
If you know that you're going to spit X food out why even bother eating it? It just seems like such a waste. And you'll still be hungry, hell it probably makes you more hungry, correct? Also there is the eating disorder thing.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
I think at this point, I should qualify with a few details on my diet...

I'm using the 'cheat to lose' strategy (basically one day a week where I get to indulge myself), which is working out well... but after watching the "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" lecture, I'm not so inclined to swallow sugary foods (I'm still happy to eat fruit), and will instead shift the cheat day to focus on savoury stuff.

But that doesn't really get rid of the sugar cravings that 25 odd years of eating without giving a damn in our culture has produced.

and I do exercise... currently walking about 6km 3-4 times a week, increasing by .5km a week... with plans to increase the intensity once I hit certain milestones.
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Enjoying the taste without consuming the bad that comes with it.

Sounds cool to me, however, I would never do it.

I love to swallow :\
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Full Recovery said:
If you know that you're going to spit X food out why even bother eating it? It just seems like such a waste. And you'll still be hungry, hell it probably makes you more hungry, correct? Also there is the eating disorder thing.

Ah... well the irony of sugary foods is that they don't really satiate you. The entire point of sugary treats is for gastronomic pleasure.
 

BowieZ

Banned
I don't understand (so to speak; I'm pretty sure I understand...) why you feel a need to do this if you are getting adequate exercise...? Are you currently overweight or something, and you're trying to lose weight?

You do realize that cheating...teasing your body out of food like this will not last for very long and you will eventually put all of the weight back on and more one way or another.

Your body is resilient and it will force you to put on weight you've cheated it out of.
 
Listen, OP, you're >this< close to having a buttfucking eating disorder. Exercise and have a balanced diet and indulge yourself once in awhile. I'd sooner do meth than chew foods and spit them out. That's so far beyond psychologically unhealthy I don't even know where to start.

Go get a pack of American Spirits. It'll completely murder your appetite if you don't mind lung cancer in 30 or 40 years.
 

john tv

Member
That sounds totally gross and wasteful. The most satisfying part of eating food is swallowing it -- doing everything but and then tossing it out sounds crazy.
 

Kozak

Banned
Crazy. Half the enjoyment of food is feeling it go down your throat and spreading its flavours all over.
 

Dogenzaka

Banned
Uh, did any of you consider that he probably is doing this because he loves certain foods but doesn't want to eat them in the fear of weight gain/health problems?

In which case, I don't see anything logically wrong with eating food and spitting it out, so you can enjoy it but not deal with its "effects".

Sure it's a little insane, and unethical, but whatever.
 

GiJoccin

Member
Chewing causes your body to release stomach acids in anticipation, as well as insulin and other hormones. Just seeing food you are about to eat does this before eating, and actually chewing the food increases this effect. It's just not healthy man.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
GiJoccin said:
Chewing causes your body to release stomach acids in anticipation, as well as insulin and other hormones. Just seeing food you are about to eat does this before eating, and actually chewing the food increases this effect. It's just not healthy man.

There's pseudo-logic to this, but I'm going to call bullshit on this. You'll salivate in anticipation, but a lot of the actual chemical affects only really happen once it hits the liver/stomach/digestive tract.

Otherwise, wouldn't chewing gum be just as hazardous if the simple act of chewing something produces all these supposed ill-effects?
 

BowieZ

Banned
Zaptruder said:
There's pseudo-logic to this, but I'm going to call bullshit on this. You'll salivate in anticipation, but a lot of the actual chemical affects only really happen once it hits the liver/stomach/digestive tract.

Otherwise, wouldn't chewing gum be just as hazardous if the simple act of chewing something produces all these supposed ill-effects?
Do you spit out chewing gum salivation?

Look, it's not so much a physical/physiological thing as it is a psychological thing. You're sending hazardous signals to your brain and your brain will make this behavior stop at some point -- often resulting in massive weight gain.

And again, this isn't really one of those GAF-worthy discussions... this is something you need to seriously see a GP about and perhaps get a recommendation to see a psychologist.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Aristotlekh said:
Listen, OP, you're >this< close to having a buttfucking eating disorder. Exercise and have a balanced diet and indulge yourself once in awhile. I'd sooner do meth than chew foods and spit them out. That's so far beyond psychologically unhealthy I don't even know where to start.

Go get a pack of American Spirits. It'll completely murder your appetite if you don't mind lung cancer in 30 or 40 years.

This is such incredibly bad advice, that in my opinion can only stem from a silly emotional reaction that is largely ingrained by social mores.

Smoking, or doing meth in place of chewing and spitting occasionally?

This isn't a case of a block of chocolate, bag of chips and 2 litre bottle of coke a day.
 

soqquatto

Member
like many on the intertubes you just came in to validate your theory. whatever we might say you won't concede that you have an eating disorder because of course the catch with eating disorders is that you do not understand it's an "eating disorder" since it's cool for you.

anyway it's gross, it's a waste, it's unhealty. try speaking with a doctor on the physiological effect of chewing without eating, an "eating disorder" (you have that already, did I mention it?) is not the only thing you can develop.
 
Zaptruder said:
I'm using the 'cheat to lose' strategy (basically one day a week where I get to indulge myself), which is working out well... but after watching the "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" lecture, I'm not so inclined to swallow sugary foods (I'm still happy to eat fruit), and will instead shift the cheat day to focus on savoury stuff.
What do you mean by "day"? Do you end up junking out the entire day? If so, you might want to try doing 2 or 3 "cheat meals" a week instead. I realised it helped spread out my desire for junk foods throughout the week and it kept me well satiated, instead of keeping my desires bottled up for that one special day where I'd feel pressured to go crazy and (inevitably) set my training back by 3 or 4 days. :/
 

Danneee

Member
Of course he's not going to admit it's an eating disorder, why people are still arguing with him about it is what really baffles me.
 

Shanadeus

Banned
Or setting up one day of the week as teh day you can absolutely gorge yourself on unhealthy food. I believe that aside from satisfying your desires for junk, it also has the added effect of telling the body that it's not starving during the other days of the week.
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Sounds disgusting, you do realize with a good diet you can afford to treat yourself every so often, a few bits of chocolate aren't going to make you pile on the weight. Or you could develop an eating disorder.
 

Doytch

Member
Zaptruder said:
There's pseudo-logic to this, but I'm going to call bullshit on this. You'll salivate in anticipation, but a lot of the actual chemical affects only really happen once it hits the liver/stomach/digestive tract.

Otherwise, wouldn't chewing gum be just as hazardous if the simple act of chewing something produces all these supposed ill-effects?
It's not totally true that chemical effects only happen when it leaves the mouth. I'm in engineering, not bio, so double-check this, but I have read studies that said that when you have aspartame or artificial sweeteners on your tongue, your body anticipates the sugar rush from the taste and prepares itself (with chemicals and shiz.) After that it gets hazy for me, but I do know for sure that stuff does happen while food is still in your mouth and only sending signals through your tongue.
 

WrikaWrek

Banned
Well, you are taking in some of the sugar at least, you can't spit it all out.

Aside from that, and that it sounds stupid, i don't know. I guess you found some sort of loophole.
 
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