Library · Physiology
What chewing does
Make it clearer
Chewing is not just a step you get through so you can swallow. It is the first part of digestion, the part called mechanical digestion: your teeth grind food and break it into smaller and smaller pieces. That is what mastication means.
So why does size matter? Because the next step, chemical digestion, works more efficiently when the food already arrives as small particles. It is like splitting logs before lighting a fire: the flame catches better when the pieces are small. In fact, saliva comes with enzymes of its own, salivary amylase and lingual lipase, so the chemistry already starts in the mouth.
The heavy work is done by the muscles that move the jaw: the temporalis, the masseter and the two pterygoids. Between them they also move it side to side, a motion that helps grind the food. What is left at the end is the bolus, the moist mass that is ready to be swallowed.
In brief
Chewing is mechanical digestion in the mouth: your teeth grind food into smaller pieces. This is called mastication.
Breaking food into small particles lets chemical digestion work better; salivary amylase and lingual lipase already act in the mouth.
Splitting logs before lighting a fire: small pieces catch faster.
The temporalis, the masseter and the two pterygoids move the jaw, including side to side; the result is the bolus, which you swallow.
Sources (2)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Digestion, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck, Mastication Muscles, StatPearlsPublished
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