Expert: Joanne - 6/17/2006

Question
Hi Holly,

I am 26/ female/ 5'11/ 140pounds.  When I was 14, I started
eating about 400 calories a day & got down to 117 pounds.  
Since then, I have steadily gained on the same calorie intake.  
However, at 16, I started chewing & spitting food.  I feel like this
has contributed to weight gain.  I have a small frame & I look
best at about 135 pounds (size 6/8).  I got to 135 by cutting
WAY back on c&s for about 3 months.  Then, I started back up
again & gained it back.  I workout 4 days a week at the gym (1
hour of cardio & 30 minutes of weight training) and I do Pilates
3 times a week.

This is sort of several questions in one, but I guess I'm
wondering if the c&s is the main reason for my weight gain, & if i
can fix my metabolism at this point & eat a more normal amount
of food?

I never eat junk food... only c&s it.  A typical day of eating for
me is a bowl of oatmeal (just the plain Quaker kind) for
breakfast, a string cheese & a little fruit for lunch, a Laughing
Cow light cheese & celery for a snack, and then chicken or
turkey & veggies at dinner.

I really enjoy healthy food, but the c&s is a coping mechanism.  
It's the only thing that makes me feel better when I'm frustrated,
lonely, bored, sad, etc.  It feels like I am out of control when I do
it.  I don't want to in my head, but my body keeps going anyway.

I found this blurb on a site called Findingbalance.com.  Do you
agree with what this doctor says?  Is it not from swallowing
calories but from the insulin surges?

Does Chewing and Spitting Cause Weight Gain?
Hi. All I want to know is if chewing and spitting causes weight
gain
or not. I have heard both ends of the story and I need to know if
the calories absorbed are negligible or if it's like a good percent
of
the food that you chew and spit. I don't chew and spit too often,
but I do it occasionally and it would help to know if I am gaining
many calories from this activity. Thanks, Marisa

Dear Marisa,

The simple answer is that the calories absorbed from chewing
and spitting are negligible. Since food is not exposed to
digestive enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract, fats, proteins
and carbohydrates cannot be digested (broken down into small
pieces) and therefore not absorbed. In fact, only an invert sugar
like honey, which is predigested by the bee into glucose, could
be absorbed through the tongue and contribute calories.

That said, the few calories that you would absorb by actually
swallowing the bite are not the real problem. The greater
concern and more important question is if chewing and spitting
causes weight gain. This has a potentially more damaging
explanation.

There are two phases of eating that precede absorption. They
are referred to the ‘cephalic’ and ‘tasting’ phases of eating.
Cephalic is the suggestion of food, such as seeing, smelling and
hearing about food. The tasting phase is the post-ingestive and
pre-absorptive phase which would be chewing and spitting. Both
the cephalic and tasting phase trigger the release of insulin,
which is not a good thing if you have ever been overweight and
especially if you have lost weight. Excess insulin is a dieter’s
worst nightmare because it raises appetite, makes it easy to gain
weight and makes it difficult to lose weight. Also the resulting
hyper-insulinemia is a precursor of insulin resistance, metabolic
syndrome, and eventually diabetes.

You write, “I don’t chew and spit too often, but I do it
occasionally.”
If you get too close to the fire you will get burned. “I smoked
marijuana but did not inhale,” said former President Bill Clinton.
Can you be a little bit pregnant? These statements are reminders
that you can’t fool Mother Nature and if you get too close to the
edge of the cliff you will fall. We have learned from the gastric
bypass surgical patients that ‘chewing and spitting’ is
inappropriate and has the strong possibility of progressing to an
eating disorder.

Chewing and spitting may seem like a reasonable compromise
for getting the benefits of tasting without the negligible
contribution of calories, but it is an inappropriate behavior that
may very well have negative and health threatening
consequequences.  --Dr. Carson

This post is way too long... but I just need advice on what to do
at this point.  I am heavier than I want to be on a 400-500
calorie a day diet that includes a good amount of exercise.

I am just so frustrated & I don't know what to do.  

Thanks for your time!

Answer
I don't know much about chewing and spitting, but I know that food begins to be broken down in the mouth.  Although it is broken down in the mouth, it is not digested until it reached the small intestine.  The only way that I think you could be gaining calories from this behaviour is if you are unwittingly swallowing some before spitting it out, but that will be small numbers of calories.

It is recognised that to lose weight effectively, females need to eat around 1000-1200 calories/day.  Anything less than this can cause your metabolism to slow down and make losing weight very hard to do.

At 5'11" and 140lbs, you are in the lower end of the normal range BMI-wise, so your weight is perfect for your height!

I think that to work out a plan that will allow you to lose weight, you should visit a dietician/nutritionist and see what they suggest.  They will have experience in working out the number of calories you need to eat and everything.  Maybe you should consider seeing your Dr as well, just to see if you should go and get professional help.  Eating disorders are very dangerous illnesses, and need to be treated!

If you have anymore questions, or want something explained further, PLEASE feel free to come back!  I'm here to provide help if I can!

Holly