Question

What is retropulsion and propulsion? Why do we need to chew well?belongs to human anatomy only

Answer 1

Propulsion is the forward movement of the food in the digestive tract. Example like from stomach into the duodenum.

Retropulsion is the backward movement of the food in the digestive tract. Example is food moving from duodenum to stomach.

Humans need to chew the food before swallowing and for this purpose teeth are present. The reasons behind chewing food are

A. It allows easy passage of food through the narrow sphincters in the digestive tract.

B. It helps better in digestion of food as small particles are better digested than larger particles.

C. Chewing helps in mixing of various digestive enzymes with the food so that it is quickly digested.

Hope this helps... Thank you!!!!