Question:
Calories/Carbs/Sugar when chewing something then spitting it out?
— Jazzy (posted on February 5, 2004)
February 5, 2004
Probably very minimal...but I HIGHLY suggest you just STAY AWAY FROM THAT
STUFF !!!! There are PLENTY of nice sweet SUGAR FREE treats you can have
instead !!matter of fact, I just made some fudge with splenda tonight-
— WABBIT F.
February 5, 2004
First, you can dump from chewing sugary gum, so it is possible that the
sugars from the stuff you are chewing and spitting out can make it into
your system. Secondly, if you are chewing treats and spitting them out,
you need to assess why you are engaging in what is potentially dangerous
behavior. Good luck.
— SteveColarossi
February 5, 2004
I don't know exactly how much is absorbed, but my surgeon states that carbs
do begin to be broken down in the mouth.
— Fixnmyself
February 5, 2004
Carbs are the one group that actually starts to digest in our mouth. There
is an enzyme in our saliva that immediately starts to break them down so
that by the time they hit the stomach they are half digested. I would
assume from that that carbs are one thing that we do absorb calories,
etc... from by doing the chew and spit.
It is also why they never hurt your tummy and you can eat so darn much of
them.
— Carol S.
February 5, 2004
I think this would depend entirely on how often you are doing it. If this
is an daily routine, then I'd think it was not a good thing to do. If you
are somewhere, say once a week, and they have a really good dessert that
you'd like to taste, I don't see how tasting a bite and then spitting it
out could impede your weight loss. I don't have an exact answer for this,
but I don't believe that simply chewing it could cause dumping anyway. In
chewing gum, as the other poster mentioned, you are chewing and swallowing
and actually digesting the sugar.....and when I say digesting, I don't mean
the digestion that begins in the mouth (which it does), but digesting the
saliva and sugar that goes down into your stomach. As a nurse and former
surgical nurse at BTC, it is my understanding that dumping is caused by
sugar going out of the stomach and into the small intestine to a part of
the small intestine that wouldn't normally see sugar (since the part that
would normally see the sugar is bypassed)....it is when the sugar reaches
this point that dumping occurs.....you don't dump the minute you put
something sweet into your mouth. If you chose to chew something sugary and
then spit it out, yes some of it would be digested, but it is digested into
the bloodstream (like when you take a medication that you let dissolve
under the tongue) and not digested in the stomach to travel on down through
the intestine. If a person was going to dump simply by putting a sugared
food in their mouth, then people who didn't have our surgery would be
dumping also. Blood sugar goes up when digesting sugar in the mouth or
anywhere in the intestine, but the act of BS rising is not what makes us
dump....if this was the case, we'd dump on ANY kind of sugar, including
fructose (fruit sugar) and lactose (milk sugar). Hope this helps....and
feel free to check this out with your surgeon. For recipe information for
desserts using fructose and Splenda, visit my website at
www.freewebs.com/recipes-after-rny
— Lynette B.
February 6, 2004
Although the prior poster's analysis is fundamentally sound, I think that
it is impossible to put something in your mouth, chew it and then spit it
out and not end up swallowing some portion of it-- particularly if it
contains sugars that will be quickly broken down in your mouth and then
passed through your stomach into your intestine. Consequently, some of the
sugars that are broken down can make it into the intestine and cause
dumping.
— SteveColarossi
February 6, 2004
Why do that to yourself? Those are the foods that got you (us)in the
position that you(we) are in now!! Too many other "good for you"
foods out there to have yourself worrying about what is being absorb! Take
the control and don't let those "bad" foods have the control!
Good Luck! Danette
— Danette C.
February 6, 2004
Frankly, I can't understand how someone can taste those treats and NOT
swallow! I certainly couldn't do it. For me, it would be one big
tease...why not just allow yourself a bite or two or something like a
donut, cookie or candy if you really want it? You obviously do want it or
you wouldnt be flirting with it.
— Cindy R.
February 6, 2004
Janet, I was doing this with beef jerky and some meats during my 4th weeks
because I needed more substance, thinking I was still getting protein,
however, my Nutritionist said it does not count. It is best you ask your
Nutritionist - my Nutritionist also said for some reason a lot of WLS
post-op fail to return to them - a good person in this field has all the
answers.
— Anna M.
May 21, 2006
I have been reading up on chewing and spitting recently because I have
recently taken up the habit after being bulimic for about 12months. I
don't think it is necessarily a bad practice, as long as it is totally in
your control. I eat a very healthy diet normally full of vegetables,
fruits, grains and protein, but occasionally I will feel like eating some
cake/cookies/chocolate, but what's the point in consuming the calroies when
you can still enjoy the flavour and texture, but without all the empty
calories???? There seems to be some confusion as to the caloric absorption
that occurs in the mouth. I am a med student and know quite a lot about
physiology of the gastrointestinal system, and the only places that absorb
sugars is the stomach (glucose) and the small intestine (sucrose, lactose,
fructose etc). As to all the people who say that digestion begins in the
mouth, this is very true, however all that is happeneing is the enzymes in
your saliva are breaking down the food, but your not absorbing any of it
yet. So the real truth is, that as long as you spit out everything in
your mouth, including saliva, you should not ingest too many calories at
all. And its actually quite easy to not swallow the food once you have
the hang of it. Just don't try it with icecream!!!!!!
— sarah_dawson
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