Why can’t you bite things with your teeth during detoxification and bowel cleansing?

In fact, this statement is not universal for all colon cleansing scenarios. We often say "you can't bite when cleaning your colon." Most of them have special requirements for medical colon cleansing before colonoscopy or partial full-liquid light fasting. If you just want to eat more high-fiber foods to clean your intestines every day, there is no such restriction.

Let’s first talk about why these two special scenarios have such requirements. The core requirement of colon cleansing before colonoscopy is to remove all food residues in the intestines. If you bite solid food, even a small piece of dragon fruit seeds or a bite of crispy bamboo shoots, it will easily stick to the intestinal folds. No matter how much bowel cleansing medicine you drink, it will not be able to wash it away. When the time comes, the colonoscopy lens will be full of debris that blocks the view, and polyps and inflammation cannot be seen clearly. It is like suffering in vain. I accompanied my sister for a painless colonoscopy last month. She couldn't help but take two bites of braised edamame the night before. The bowel cleansing effect was rated as "poor" the next day. The doctor asked her to change the appointment on the spot. She came back and regretted it for several days.

Those Internet celebrity advocates of the all-liquid intestinal cleansing method say that the logic of not biting is simpler: they believe that the chewing action will send the "eating" signal to the brain, thereby stimulating the secretion of gastric acid and digestive enzymes, and activating the peristaltic rhythm of the entire gastrointestinal tract. Originally, the purpose of clearing the intestines is to allow the gastrointestinal tract to "stop working and rest." As soon as you bite something, the gastrointestinal tract will start preparing to digest food, but it will not achieve the effect of reducing the burden. Therefore, they require all fruits, vegetables, and grains to be pureed into fine juice and swallowed directly, without even chewing.

But I myself tried a three-day liquid colon cleanse. I strictly followed the instructions and didn’t bite anything. I even swallowed the juice directly. The next day, I started to suffer from acid reflux and fever. After asking my clinical nutrition friends, I found out that many people in the academic field simply do not agree with the requirement that ordinary healthy people should not chew during bowel cleansing. On the contrary, I feel that this approach is counter-intuitive - salivary amylase secreted during chewing is the first pass of digestion. If you skip this step and pour high-sugar fruit and vegetable juice directly into the stomach, it will increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. If you have reflux and gastritis problems, it can easily induce discomfort.

To put it bluntly, there is really no need to worry about whether you can bite or not. If you are required to have a colon cleansing before a colonoscopy or surgery, just follow the doctor’s instructions and don’t bite anything.； If you want to reduce the burden on your stomach and intestines every day, take two extra bites of boiled vegetables or multi-grain rice, and chew the food before swallowing. It is much more effective than not chewing anything for three days and drinking sweet juice.