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Chewing and Spitting is quite a common behaviour seen in people with eating disorders, although people who do it may not necessarily see it as a problem.
There is no big surprise about how chewing and spitting got its name. It literally involves chewing food, enjoying the taste of it, and spitting it out instead of swallowing it.
The quantity and type of food that is chewed and spat out can vary, but it may draw some parallels with the amount and type of food a person with binge eating disorder or bulimia might crave and gorge themselves with.
The amount of food can be vast, and include types of foods that don’t necessarily go together in the conventional sense. Chewing and spitting can start off ‘innocently’ and infrequently, but then develop into a serious habit or addiction that is hard to break.
So why do people chew and spit? This behaviour is not necessarily about food, but used as a coping mechanism for some form of psychological stress that is unrelated to food.
Someone may also discover it as a way of eating and getting satisfaction from the taste of the food they are eating without worrying about the number of calories they are consuming, or to avoid putting themselves through the distress of self-induced vomiting that takes place with bulimia and in some cases of anorexia.
On the surface, chewing and spitting may not seem like a very harmful thing to do, but it is linked to food deprivation as the type of food being spat out is rarely actually eaten. Although cravings for it can be strong, the food spat out is considered ‘bad’. Chewing and spitting can also invoke a sense of waste and guilt about the food that is quite literally being wasted.
Chewing and spitting out sugary foods can still do damage to teeth, perhaps even more so, as the quantities of sugar ending up in the mouth are larger than if food was actually swallowed and eaten properly.
There’s nothing good about depriving your body of the food it needs. Food that ends up in the mouth should be swallowed. Rather than chewing and spitting out certain types of foods, it’s better to actually eat them in moderation.
In order to break the habit of chewing and spitting, it is advisable to seek help from a trained professional who has experience of treating eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.