Disclaimer, I have dysphagia, so this isn't meant to be the average person's experience, but... I was eating when I read this and counted how many times I chewed when I took a bite until I felt comfortable swallowing and it was 47. You're telling me normal people can chew as low as 2 times? Astounding.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

I'm in the zero to ten camp for most foods, but right there with you at 47 for fatty meat of any kind. It feels disgusting in my mouth and to swallow it without gagging I need to basically cut it up with my incisors into smaller and smaller pieces until the texture disappears.

[–] toynbee 3 points 2 days ago

There's a Calvin & Hobbes strip that would apply perfectly here, but I can't find it. It features them discussing how many times it's appropriate to chew food and the punch line is "maybe marshmallows are the exception." Unfortunately, I couldn't find that, so here's the closest I could:

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I mean it depends on what you eat ofcourse. Its just a linear change between soup(0) and crackers(idk maybe 10).

Like a mouthful Spaghetti doesnt need too much like maybe 4-5 times for me, but i have seen plenty of people who almost swallow pasta unchewed. Something like meat or carrots or whatever needs some more to get it to a small enough size to swallow and it just keeps going up with size, hardness and dryness.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

i think i generally chew maybe.. 6-10 times? but depending on the food i can either chew a lot more or a lot less, soft foods like well-boiled spaghetti just don't really make sense to our brains and so we don't chew properly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Is this bad? Maybe I have it because I'm similar.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Fortunately, I think you'd probably notice if you did. Makes it hella hard to swallow stuff unless you pulverize it to a paste. In my case, some days I can't even swallow things as simple as applesauce and have to just drink high calorie liquids.

Edit: After seeing the rest of your comments in this thread... Yeah, sounds like dysphagia. Dysphagia is a symptom though, not the condition itself. If you've got it, something deeper is wrong. In my case it's likely nerve damage and allergies together.