Our fast-paced modern lives often rob us of time for basic activities like eating. Many of us grab something quick for breakfast on the way out of the house, or wolf down our lunch so we can gain a sliver more time to be productive at work, or to dedicate to our personal lives. Beyond more philosophical reflections on our culture of haste, it is worth weighing up the impacts of eating too fast on our health.
Have you ever experienced excessive gas? Do you often suffer from difficult, heavy digestion or bloating? How long since you paid attention to how hungry or full you actually feel? Excess gas With regard to the first of these problems, there is a condition that involves swallowing excessive amounts of air during and between meals, known as aerophagia . It can cause anything from mild discomfort and a feeling of heaviness and bloating to abdominal pain and distension (a visible increase in abdominal size after eating). The normal amount of gas in the digestive tract when our stomachs are empty is around 200 ml.
If this amount increases significantly, the physiological mechanisms for its expulsion can become very uncomfortable. This amount of air depends on the balance between the intake, production and elimination of gas through belching, flatulence or its consumption by the intestinal microbiota . Eating quickly is one of the main factors in increasing both air intake and gas production, although chewing gum, smoking and alterations in the gut microbiota may also contribu.