Do you still chew your food alot?

I am one of the lucky ones that has never gotten any food stuck, had the foamies or thrown up since surgery.  I chewed my food alot when I was early out, but since about 4 months, I don't think that I really chew my food any more than I used to.  Is this a bad thing?  Will I get less nutrition from my food since my pouch isn't breaking down the food the way it used to before it goes to the intestines (plus the malabsorption now).  Can this lead to leaky gut syndrome or other problems...or should I just not worry about it at all?  I'm just over 9 months out now.

It really depends. If you don't chew well enough and a piece of food is too big, over and over I have heard that it can eventually stretch your stoma. I'm not sure about the nutritional question.

how would you know if the food is too big? I never have any pain of any kind?  I am still chewing my food...but my estimate is that I'm chewing it the same way I always did.  Would that leave the food big enough to stretch my stoma?  Does the food break down at all in the pouch?  I usually wait an hour before drinking after meals...so is anything happening to the food at all or is it just very slowly passing through to the intestine?

You need to chew your food well though. Because it helps to digest what you eat. You don't have juices and acids breaking down food anymore in your pouch.

I think too (at least for me) it helps me slow down my eating and be more mindful of my food.  I was always a gulper (eating much too quickly).  By chewing slowly it helps me eat less by giving my body a chance to feel full and send me the signal before I have over-eaten.

Andrea. 

Totally guilty of not chewing enough, and have had experiences that taught me a lesson (i.e. stuck food, foamies). So I try to aim for a reasonable amount of chewing and try to repeat this mantra in my head: "your digestion is now in your mouth, not your gut". Sometimes it works. 

I also never had any food stuck of the foamies....still to this day eat too fast and don't chew as good as I should.

But, I do only eat the portion I'm supposed to have, so even if I'm still hungry, I have to suck it up.

This is a great post!

 

Even at almost 5 years out, when I don't chew my food good enough, It makes my stomach hurt and sometimes the pain can last for hours.

 

It is so easy to just eat not chew well, but even this far out it still makes me sick when I "snarf" my food down it happened to me Saturday at the mall. I was eating a salad at Panera with my Sister and I was so hungry I just gobbled up my salad and before I knew it I had eaten about 3/4 of it. I can eat quite a bit of food now but that is a big salad and it had chicken on it so that changes things and fills me up pretty quick. So after that I felt like crap because I ate too fast, didn't chew good enough, and ate too much.

 

Guess I like to learn my lessons that hard way!

It depends on what I'm eating. I really need to chew chicken really well, or I get foamies and throw it up. Shellfish and fish are fine, and ground beef is OK. I need to chew any bread-type products very well, too. 

I chew the hell out of my food.. I've never had anything get stuck but, I know from reading here on OH I don't want it, don't need it, NO SIR.
Also, it keeps me from scarfing my food down. I try to be mindful of the food I eat because for many years I wasn't ... That left me in a place I never want to go back to.