Recently I began to chew and spit food. What are some health dangers associated with it?

Question

I noticed this week that I have been doing this a lot and I have been having stomach aches and bloating. Is this due to this behavior? Also, can I gain weight from this?
Is it normal for my cheeks to get swollen too?

By this I mean chew it intentionally and then spit it out for fear of weight gain.

Answer 1

Its not clear from your question what is going on. If you are spitting out your food before swallowing it, and worrying about weight gain and stomach problems, this sounds like an eating disorder - similar to anorexia or bulimia. The dangers of this are that the habit will progress, become harder to control, and cause malnutrition.

If there there is some physical reason that food is falling out of your mouth while chewing, then that would suggest some sort of problem with the nerves that control chewing.

Don't know how swollen cheeks fit into the picture, but it is common for someone with an eating disorder to focus on any type of weight gain or puffiness they think might be related to food.