But it also leads us chewing quickly and swallowing our food before it’s been fully chewed.
Salivary glands in our mouths produce saliva.
While mostly made of water, saliva also contains enzymes that begin to break food down while we chew.
When we chew, our teeth break the food into smaller pieces, exposing more surfaces to our saliva.
This starts the digestion process.
When we swallow our food without chewing properly, we skip an essential step of digestion.