10 Facts You Should Know About "Chew And Spit" Eating Disorder

Chewing and Spitting (CHSP) is an eating disorder defined by the act of chewing food and then spitting it out. The main goal for CHSP is to enjoy the fattening foods’ tastes but not put on the weight that ingesting them would. This is one of the eating disorders least studied. I’m sure most everyone in their teen and young adult years would have loved to eat anything without worrying about what it was going to do to the body. The idea of being able to enjoy the taste of any food and not have the consequences is appealing.

However, it is a dangerous eating habit and needs to be talked about, as it is one of the most closeted eating disorders there is. No immediate signs and symptoms, and if hidden well, it can go undisclosed for years. This article serves as a way to understand CHSP for what it is—and eating disorder. Some individuals have claimed that articles such as this one have made them start CHSP. They claim that they did not know about this, and how they think it is a way for them to lose weight while eating what they want to eat and not having any of the consequences. But heed my intent of the article: to inform you about the dangers of the disorder and, if you or someone you know uses CHSP as a coping mechanism, that help is available.

The “chewing and spitting” eating disorder is a method of enjoying tasty, high-calorie foods without actually ingesting them, avoiding the weight gain associated with eating those kinds of foods (gaining weight, bad skin, feeling bloated or any other negative feelings one may have after eating candy or junk food). It is imperative to note that this IS an eating disorder. It is not a diet. It is not a healthy eating habit. Although it was previously labeled as an eating disorder behavior, it is classified as an “other specified feeding and eating disorder” in the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the 5th edition). Many sources will say that it is not an eating disorder, that it is a behavior that is associated with another eating disorder—that CHSP cannot exist without the diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines an eating disorder as an unregulated and harmful eating habit. CHSP in and of itself is just that. It does not need to be associated with the more common eating disorders in order to be considered an eating disorder. Society just needs to accept it as an eating disorder and raise awareness of it more.

Like other eating disorders, the cause is tricky to pinpoint, as there is not a single precursor to leading someone to CHSP. Typically individuals who CHSP have a history of body image issues. This may include an obsession of dieting, an addiction to working out, a fear of weight gain, or constant negative self-talk. Due to the body image issue aspect of the disorder, many CHSP individuals are young (teens and young adults). This also explains the “invincibility” aspect of the disorder—the idea that as long as you spit everything you put in your mouth out, then no harm will come to you. The brains of teens and young adults are still developing. The brain is fully developed by about 25 years old, so the decision-making part of the brain (frontal lobe) is still not perfectly put together. Teens and young adults are still not fully considering consequences for their actions due to this, and they even consider this as a harmless diet.

The idea is appealing to begin with. Eat all that you want and love the taste of but not have the weight gain. Once a person tries the chew and spit method, he or she may fall in love with the idea of eating a peanut butter cup but not have to put it into the calorie counter app. The person will want more and more, as the limits are endless. The feeling of hunger is always there, but the stomach never feels full. This behavior turns into a compulsion and before you know it, it is always on your mind. Compulsive behavior makes you want more of it, and at higher stakes. That means that you may have started CHSP with just lavish desserts you didn’t want to feel guilty about. However, the compulsive addiction makes you then want to chew and spit everything you come into contact with, and soon, you’re eating very little without spitting.

You’d think that just chewing food and spitting it out would be a harmless way to diet and maintain a good figure. After all, at least you’re not eating the high-calorie food. But what about how those foods affect your body otherwise? Eating an excessive amount of sugary and salty foods may cause cavities and will negatively affect your teeth. Also, like chewing gum, when your mouth chews something (especially food that your body recognizes as something to ingest), your brain tells your stomach “food is coming down there! Get ready!” Your stomach starts preparing by releasing acid to break up the food that’s about to come down. However, when you don’t send food down, the acid is just sitting in your stomach. This can cause stomach ulcers which may lead to bigger problems. Your body also is not getting the right amount of nutrients.

When you are chewing more than you’d usually eat (binge eating), your salivary glands are working overtime. This may make them irritated which will cause them to swell up. Another serious symptom can actually cause weight gain when you chew and spit. Another organ in your body, the pancreas, makes insulin. Whenever there is food to be digested, your pancreas begins making and pumping insulin as to regulate the sugar content that’s put back into your body. When insulin pumps out with no sugar to be regulated, it does not do its job and then there is excess insulin in the body. This is exactly what happens when food is chewed but not ingested. The excess of insulin can affect you in multiple ways. The overproduction of insulin can cause diseases such as diabetes. Excess insulin makes you have a bigger appetite (because the insulin tells your body “I can’t just sit around all day…I need to do something!”) It can also negatively affect your metabolism, as it is lowered. A low metabolism rate will not burn calories as fast, thus making you gain weight. It can also cause a metabolic syndrome. The only noted symptom of metabolic syndrome is a big waist, something that was being avoided by CHSP.

CHSP can affect more than just your body. The symptoms go beyond physical ones. It can make you crave for food, especially the unhealthy kinds. As I mentioned before, the behavior is addictive; the food can be addictive too. It can affect your relationships with other people. Because it is a closeted disorder, many people often prefer to be in isolation than have others discover their secret. Feelings associated with the disorder are guilt, regret, and shame, all of which are negative self-reflections. People who CHSP are likely to alienate themselves due to these feelings and not wanting anyone to find out, which would make these feelings escalate even more. When you are out in public with your friends, you feel you cannot control the compulsive behavior that is CHSP. You turn to seclusion rather than having to explain to friends why you can’t eat out in front of them, or why you keep bringing food into the bathroom with you. Your social life becomes nonexistent.

Depending what you chew and spit, how much of it, and how long it stays in your mouth before you spit it out, you may still be ingesting calories. This may cause weight gain and other issues. Let’s take a few examples. Now, most food is not absorbed into your body while it is still in your mouth (that’s the appeal of the eating disorder). However, did you know that honey, since it is a byproduct of bees and is already digested, CAN be absorbed in the mouth? That being said, there are about 64 calories in 1 tablespoon of honey. Even if only half of that was absorbed, you’d be putting 32 calories into your body each time you have a tablespoon of honey. That means granola bars, baklava, and many other drool-worthy desserts would have calories absorbed, even if you are not ingesting the food. Another example would be if you did not spit all of a food out. Food gets stuck in your teeth, mixed in with saliva that slides down your throat, and caught in the smallest crevices in your mouth. It would be very difficult to get rid of it all. Let’s take a Reese’s Cup. One cup has 87 calories. That means 4 cups (a king size package) has about 350 calories. Even if you ingest 5% of each cup, you’d be ingesting about 4.3 calories. Now, since you are CHSP and feel you can chew anything without any consequences, when you go to the gas station to buy Reese’s, you end up buying 10 packages (and yes, it is a compulsion thing). You are now ingesting 43 calories worth of junk food rather than filling your stomach up with healthy options (and don’t even get me started on the sugars and fats that are also being absorbed).

It’s actually quite common. But it can be very secretive. Also, not many studies have focused on this specific eating disorder. For a long time, CHSP was considered a type of bulimia, the spitting being a kind of vomiting. According to a study conducted by the School of Medicine of John Hopkins University, about one-third of people who have eating disorders also participate in CHSP as restricting their eating habits. However, it is rarely discussed and rarely studied. Why is that? Before this article, how many times have you seen something about CHSP? How many books or movies or TV shows mention this eating disorder? Many articles and other types of media focus on the two big name eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia, so much to the point of “normalizing” these disorders. Although none of them are healthy, anorexia and bulimia have been or accepted into society than other lesser-known eating disorders, like CHSP. So although you may not have heard a lot about this eating disorder, it is very much prevalent in society and it may be even more dangerous than the other eating disorders for the fact that it is not talked about and so closeted.

Co-morbidity is when a person has one or more disorders. Usually the disorders relate to one another. CHSP usually co-exists along with other disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). CHSP also has been found to be associated with addictions with excessive exercising, extreme dieting, and a history of body image issues. If someone has always had a fear of weight gain and has gone through extreme measures to avoid it, this would be an indicator for someone at-risk of an eating disorder. The chew and spit eating disorder, like many eating disorders, may be the result of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from abusive trauma relating to body image.

CHSP can also exist as part of another eating disorder. CHSP is seen as a type of binge eating, as there is an uncontrollable amount of food being consumed. It can also be seen as a type of bulimia, as the contents of whatever is eaten is not digested. Individuals who CHSP may start out as binge eaters or bulimics, and then they might figure that CHSP is easier, more convenient, healthier, and less harmful. This is not to say that CHSP cannot exist by itself, as it can. An individual could appear to not have anything wrong with them and engage in CHSP. A person can have an addictive personality but not have a diagnosis of any disorder.

I remember when I first experienced the chew and spit eating disorder. I working at a boarding school and a student that lived upstairs in the two-story dorm. She was obsessed with exercise, going almost every day to the gym, and was constantly on a diet. However, she, like many people, had cravings for sugary and salty snacks. At first, she would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and steal from other people’s cabinets. But then, she would hoard candy in her room (which broke two rules; candy was not allowed in the dorm at all and food was not allowed in bedrooms) and then sneak into the bathroom with the sink running. When she left the bathroom, a peer went in and then immediately came to get me. The girl had CHSP right into the garbage. I wasn’t so much repulsed as I was worried for the girl. I sought help for her, but for the next few weeks, she continuously did it and peers found everything about it to be gross (the smell, the sight, the idea of it). This may be why it is such a closeted eating disorder and not many people open up about it. Like other eating disorders, there is a feeling of guilt and shame associated with the behaviors of CHSP.

This is most likely the most difficult thing to recognize, especially if you have this disorder. You may want help, but the idea of someone being able to help and you actually getting better is often the hardest to think about. You many not believe it. You may be in denial and think you are okay, that this is a harmless behavior. You may think it is too late. The National Eating Disorders Association Helpline (800-931-2237) is available at any time of day. The first step is admitting that CHSP is a harmful problem and you need to stop, and the second step is reaching out to someone to help you do the rest. Recovery is not a one-person process. It includes many individuals, both that are close to you and some that have come in your life for the purpose of recovery. You have loved ones that care about you and therapists that want to help you get better.