Digitally Visualizing the Act of 'Chewing'. The Scientific Approach of 'Behavior Modification (Habit Loop)' Brought by Chewing Count Apps

“Chew your food well, 30 times per bite.” No one objects to these words that we have been told since childhood. However, if asked whether they can practice it every day as an adult, most people would shake their heads. Humans are not built to be able to continue an immediate, visible endurance (the pain of slowly chewing a delicious-looking curry) for the sake of invisible results (weight loss or health a few weeks later).

The most powerful weapon to break through this “limit of willpower” is “digital intervention,” which turns one’s own behavior into data and visualizes it in real-time. It uses the “measurement technology of chewing,” which employs the exact same logic as the sleep trackers and pedometers currently sweeping the fitness industry.

The Core of Behavior Modification: The Cybernetics of Recording and Feedback

Human behavior (habit) is formed and reinforced by a three-part loop: “Cue,” “Routine,” and “Reward.” The biggest reason why the act of “chewing” does not become a habit is that the “Feedback (Reward)” at the end of this loop is extremely weak and slow.

• Even if you try hard to chew every day, the earliest you can actually feel a change in weight or physical condition is a few weeks later. However, if you swallow curry whole in 5 minutes, you get the immediate reward of “a momentary intense pleasure and feeling of fullness.” The brain overwhelmingly chooses the latter.

Overturning this is the digital recording of chew counts (visualization via apps or devices) (behavior modification protocol related to E06).

1. Real-time Digitalization: By devices presenting objective numbers like “You chewed 500 times per meal today,” previously invisible efforts are instantly converted into a visual reward called a “score.”
2. Cultivation of Self-Efficacy: The small sense of accomplishment of “I was able to chew 100 times more than yesterday” strongly influences motivation. This psychological drive (gamification) to “increase (or maintain) the numbers” becomes a new “cue” to move your jaw at every meal.

Why “Self-Reporting” Is Not Good Enough

You might think, “I don’t need to use an app every single time, I can just count in my head, right?” However, research data shows just how unreliable “self-reported chewing count records” are (variances in measurement data in E03, E11).

• Memory Bias: People unconsciously overestimate their efforts. Even if they have only chewed “10 times,” they physically convince themselves they have chewed “20 times.” Because of this, an accurate baseline (understanding the current situation) cannot be established, making it impossible to set an appropriate improvement goal.
• Increase in Cognitive Load: Counting “1, 2, 3…” during a meal consumes a massive amount of the brain’s working memory, significantly impairing the enjoyment (relaxation) of the meal itself. This continuously raises stress hormones, eventually making the “act of counting itself” a pain, leading to frustration within a few days.

A Future Where Chewing is Incorporated into the “Realm of the Unconscious”

A digital device (or dedicated app) that automatically measures and logs the number of chews completely outsources this stressful “counting task.”

All you have to do is taste the meal in front of you and check the “Today’s Chewing Score” that pops up after the meal. Then, you focus all your energy on slightly increasing this app score like a “game high score” (not letting your continuous streak break).

Ultimately, if you continue this game of digital numbers for about 3 to 4 weeks, your brain and jaw muscles will automatically remember the “rhythm of chewing a certain number of times even without a score (reward).” In other words, even after the digital device’s training wheels come off, a “new fully automatic program (the strongest chewing habit)” of unconsciously maintaining and swallowing at 30 chews per bite is completed.