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is it ok to chew and spit?

im finding that more and more when i want to eat a 'bad' thing, i just chew it and then spit it out.

its a little odd, and paranoid. does anyone else to this or is it a slippery slope kind of thing...?

i have one of the most addictive personalities i know so i dont want to start something destructive (again).

.......no.......not okay, especially if you have a history of destructive behavior.

I'm a little ashamed to say I've done it before.  I think it's probably technically  a disorder but we aren't hurting ourselves...just wasting food really.

I had a mouthful of peanut butter once and I realized "Omigod this is like 200 calories in my mouth", so I spit it out.  My opinion is that it's mostly harmless as long as you don't plan on it and it doesn't happen too often.

It's a form of disordered eating. You really don't want to do it. It doesn't promote a normal, healthy relationship with food. And yes, it's a slippery slope.

There is no 'bad' food. Every food has a place within our diet--yes, even things like chocolate and french fries. Their place is just less frequent than the apples, broccoli, and whole grains of the world. Thinking of food as 'good' and 'bad' only sets up for unnecessary guilt. Instead, work things you like into your daily calories. You can still lose weight and enjoy the foods you like. Good luck. :-)

boha,

I am planning it, which is mainly why I'm verging on concerned.

I never have been able to stop myself from anything much, it's like my mind and my body are two completly separate entities.

minerva,

What really is the harm in it? I'm not attacking, I just want to know. It stops me from consuming 'silly' calories and I feel way better than when I do swallow.

The trouble is, if I lived alone I probly would be doing this to half of my food, bad or not.

IT IS NOT OK AND NOT HARMLESS!!!! please people! if you are telling yourself that you are deluding yourself. When i see posts like this i get very upset. One of my very close family members suffers horribly from this eating disorder, yes it is AN EATING DISORDER. she has been doing it for over 6 years now. night and day she is there chewing food and spitting it into a cup. She tried to hide if for the first couple of years but there isn't a point now because we all know. She'll go to the store and buy tons of candy and junk and ice cream and do it for hours. she does it at restaurants and in public. and flushes it down the toilet or into the yard. I don't know if she can even let herself swallow anything anymore. its horrible to watch. She has so many cavities and jaw problems from the constant chewing not to mention ulcers and gas from not actually swallowing and heart problems from not eating right. Worse she has gained a ton of weight somehow, which makes her even more unhappy and prompts her to continue to chew and spit it out. please please don't do this to yourself. it really isn't ok, and nobody should think it is.

No, it's not okay.  Do not do it.  If you don't like something that you're eating, by all means spit it out and don't eat that item again.  Chewing and spitting is an unhealthy habit, and one that is commonly connected to an eating disorder such as EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.) Chewing and spitting is often considered to be a precursor to more dramatic behaviors and should be considered a warning sign.

People have found that they've gained weight anyway.  Disgestion starts in the mouth with the simple sugars, so you get some of the calories without the nutrition which is gotten at later levels of digestion.  You won't know how many calories you ate because there is no accurate measurement.

Please talk to someone soon about this. These are just some of the effects of C&S:

*Swollen glands
*Mouth Sores
*Cavities
*Cracked teeth
*Sore throats
*Irritated or ulcerous stomachs

Here are some details of C&S listed on ANRED site.

Chewing and spitting

• The person puts food in his/her mouth, tastes it, chews it, and then spits it out.

• Some people believe this behavior is a separate eating disorder. It is not. It is a calorie-control strategy commonly seen in anorexia nervosa, and sometimes in bulimia and eating-disorder-not-otherwise-specified. The person is creative, allowing some experience and enjoyment of food but avoiding all but a few calories. Since essential nutrients are not incorporated into the body, chewing and spitting can be just as harmful to health as are starvation dieting and binge eating followed by purging.

An extremely helpful site to check out when you are talking to your family member(s) is something-fishy.org.

On the left hand side their are tabs for treatment finder, Recovery: Reach Out, and much more.

We will be here for you 100%... for support. But we can not give you the proper treatment and help that you need as we are not educated in Eating Disorders.

Do I Have An Eating Disorder? can help you determine if you have an eating disorder.

You need to EAT in order to lose weight in a healthful manner, with a REASONABLE deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories and not more. 

I encourage you to check out the information in the library from our Eating Disorder Guide, Matthew Tiemeyer.

Eating Disorders Guide

Please be aware that posts involving eating disorders and other unhealthy methods of dieting will be locked or deleted if they appear to promote the behavior rather than attempting to recover from it.

See the response from noneedfowit for some of the potential harms.

"Yet people [who chew and spit] can experience swollen glands, mouth sores, cavities, cracked teeth, sore throats, and irritated or ulcerous stomachs. This is because when a person thinks about or begins to eat the salivary glands and stomach acids kick into action. The salivary glands work on the food in the mouth to break it down into simple sugars and make it easier to digest. Some argue that the breakdown allows the sugar to be absorbed through the mouth into the body, thus causing actual calorie ingestion. Others argue that this would be minimal as the food does not stay in the mouth long enough for this to happen. Some claim that it's impossible to not swallow some of the food, but again this is usually minimal. When the salivary glands and acids are frequently working it can lead to the complications mentioned. It can also cause a spike in insulin levels, which regulate blood sugar, and make it harder to lose weight."

That's from the Associated Content article: "Chew and Spit: A Hidden Eating Disorder".

It's also a sort of gateway to other eating disorders, as often people will stop eating because chewing becomes 'enough' to them, or they punish themselves by purging (either vomitting or laxitives) when they end up swallowing, whether purposely or accidently.

Plus, on a less serious note, it's gross. It's gross, and it's not normal, and isn't that what we all want--a HEALTHY, NORMAL relationship with food?

Original Post by thegreedygoose:

im finding that more and more when i want to eat a 'bad' thing, i just chew it and then spit it out.

its a little odd, and paranoid. does anyone else to this or is it a slippery slope kind of thing...?

 i have one of the most addictive personalities i know so i dont want to start something destructive (again).

 

Everyone else has said enough about the "potential problems" with the behavioural aspect of this "chew and spit".

However i just want to mention something from a "diet" point of veiw.

We actually start absorbing the nutriant's from our food from the second it enter's our mouth.  Now while i'd admit, that most of the calorie's are absorbed when it's in the stomach it's simply impossible to guesstimate how many you will absorb during your "chew".

Suger Calories and liquid calories are most easily absorbed by your mouth, so if alot of this "bad food" is of the sugery variety, cake, biscuits, chocolate etc then it's quite likely your body is infact processing upto half the calories before you get to the point of spiting it out.

So if your doing it alot it might be that your taking in alot of "uncounted calories" because you think by spiting it out it doens't count, and this may affect your weight in undesired way's. 

i've struggled with this in the past, it seemed fade off, and suddenly stress comes along and i go right back to it. it's really not an okay thing to do, but it's hard to let go of. i am counting this as the first day to get myself back on track and away from this, since it is in no way beneficial to my health, and it is in no way beneficial to anyone else who does such a practice...

I think the fact that you have asked this question in the first place shows that you've already had some serious doubts about whether its all right, and hopefully you've definitely found out the answer.

I've pretty much gone by the rule: if I'm ashamed to do it, then its definitely not good for me.

I have to confess, I have done this maybe once or twice last summer. When I first discovered it, I thought that OMG, this is the answer to pig out and not gain weight!

Wrong. I have heard many people have gained weight doing it. And not only that, but its just wrong. And I find that chewing and tasting the food is only one fraction of the delight of eating. Not swallowing and spitting the food out felt just terrible. Swallowing is nice, it feels good and makes you satisfied. Plus, chewing and spitting is WASTING of food. I felt disgustingly selfish after I had done it. So after the 2 times I tried it, I stopped. Just not worth it.

Oh, and I also find that I dont enjoy eating candy, cakes, pastries or such when Im alone. Only when Im with my friends or family, at movies, downtown etc. And I could only c&s when I was alone at home. It wasn't fun after all. You wouldn't do it in front of your friends or family, would you? So for me this was no solution to anything.

BUT, I, myself, cant think of any reason why this would physically harm you. Im NOT promoting anything here, this is just what I think!

ieevee it was explained above how this can physicaly harm you.

but ill copy paste anyway

Yet people [who chew and spit] can experience swollen glands, mouth sores, cavities, cracked teeth, sore throats, and irritated or ulcerous stomachs. This is because when a person thinks about or begins to eat the salivary glands and stomach acids kick into action. The salivary glands work on the food in the mouth to break it down into simple sugars and make it easier to digest. Some argue that the breakdown allows the sugar to be absorbed through the mouth into the body, thus causing actual calorie ingestion. Others argue that this would be minimal as the food does not stay in the mouth long enough for this to happen. Some claim that it's impossible to not swallow some of the food, but again this is usually minimal. When the salivary glands and acids are frequently working it can lead to the complications mentioned. It can also cause a spike in insulin levels, which regulate blood sugar, and make it harder to lose weight."

All these poor kids who don't have any money to have food or plenish their little bodies and you're spitting it out and wasting good food....:P ok..ok....that is very unfortunate..the case of the matter is chewing and spitting is NOT healthy and it IS indeed a symptom of an eating disorder. Infact, last week on the A&E show "Intervention," they had a girl with and eating disorder on it and they showed about 5 minutes of her chewing and spitting into a cup while her boyfriend was in bed. It was rather sad and disturbing. But to answer your question I agree with everyone here who has given you the facts of this trait. Stop this now if you can or get some counseling. This is not only a waste of food, but very, very unhealthy.

I've chewed and spit if I tried something that was disgusting.  But not to avoid the calories.   I would think it would take the fun right out of eating.  Plus it's a major waste of food.

don't do it. i started doing it as a way of trying to stop my binge/purge behavior, but doing it either leads me to eating the food anyway or just binging. in the beginning its satisfying, to a certain degree, but then it gets out of control- as disordered eating does. i have an addictive personality too. PLEASE dont do it, it is definitely a slippery slope.