I remember talking to an army recruiter at school when I was about 14 - not to recruit us, but to show how "cool" a career in the military could be, in case book-lernin didn't work out. Anyhow, the one thing I remember him saying is in boot camp they were made to chew every bite of food 50 times. The drill sergeant would count and punish anyone who swallowed before they got to fifty.
Fast-forward 30 years and I STILL continue to chew my food an inordinate number of times because of that one interaction. However, I've never been able to verify whether or not he was pulling my leg. I don't have a particularly large jaw, but I have noticed (anecdotally, of course) that I have fewer stomach issues than my peers who tend to chew-chew-gulp everything.
Fast-forward 30 years and I STILL continue to chew my food an inordinate number of times because of that one interaction. However, I've never been able to verify whether or not he was pulling my leg. I don't have a particularly large jaw, but I have noticed (anecdotally, of course) that I have fewer stomach issues than my peers who tend to chew-chew-gulp everything.