cephalic phase

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 →

Your Body’s Response to Chewing & Spitting: The Role of Ghrelin and Obestatin

Shelly 3 Comments

Shelly’s follow-up post on chewing and spitting, an often overlooked symptom in eating disorders. In her first post, Shelly discussed the prevalence of chewing and spitting among eating disorder patients. In this post, Shelly discusses some of the physiological effects of chewing and spitting. Enjoy! – Tetyana

Your body responds to food long before it reaches your stomach. The taste, smell, even the mere sight of food all act to trigger a physiological response, “priming” the gut by stimulating various enzymes required for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. This is called the “cephalic response”, and it is mediated by a part of the nervous system that’s generally not under conscious control (the autonomic nervous system). Keep in mind, the actual consumption of food is NOT necessary to trigger this reflex.

As you may have already guessed, the act of chewing and spitting (CHSP) out … Continue reading →