Cummings

Your Body’s Response to Chewing and Spitting: The Role of Insulin

Shelly 19 Comments

In my previous post, I looked at two hormones released during the cephalic phase (gastric secretion that occurs before food is eaten), ghrelin and obestatin, and how they may contribute to runaway eating behavior. Today I’m going to be looking at insulin release during chew and spit (CHSP), a fairly common symptom in eating disorders where the food is tasted, chewed and spit out. Insulin is a small peptide hormone that acts as a key regulator of metabolism; deregulation of insulin signalling plays a role in illnesses such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Some people have theorized that CHSP behavior may influence insulin regulation. In fact, there are a number of individuals stating on internet forums that chronic CHSP could lead to insulin resistance, potentially promoting diabetes. As interesting as these theories are, recent data have shown that they are probably not true.

INSULIN RELEASE DURING THE CEPHALIC … Continue reading →

Chewing and Spitting: A Neglected Symptom in Eating Disorders?

Shelly 23 Comments

Eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes, but all of them are characterized by the same goal: to avoid weight gain or induce weight loss. While behaviours such as food restriction, purging, and laxative abuse are relatively well studied, chewing and spitting (CHSP) is not. A simple Google search, however, reveals over 1.5 million results for the term “chewing and spitting.” Results often links to blog posts or Tumblr pages where CHSP sufferers confess their guilt, disgust and obsession with the behaviour.

What is chewing and spitting? How does it relate to other disordered eating behaviours  such as restrictive eating or binge eating?

Chewing and spitting describes the pathological eating behaviour where the individual chews a variety of enjoyable foods, and spits it out to avoid undesirable consequences of weight gain (Mitchell et al, 1988). This seemingly “smart” workaround allows them to enjoy the taste of foods … Continue reading →