# Why do I chew my cud? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238 "2007-12-16T20:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/1 "2007-12-16T20:59:43Z")
Sometimes after I eat, I burp food up into my mouth and I am compelled to chew it again before swallowing. I have been doing this my entire life, or at least as far back as I can possibly remember. It doesn’t reach “escape velocity”; it just kind of washes up into the oral cavity and sits there until I swallow it again. It usually happens after I eat meat, and white meat chicken is the worst offender. Since I’ve been doing it forever, I’ve always just assumed that it is part of the normal human alimentary experience. My wife, however, looks at me as if I were from another planet when I do this and assures me that I am by no means normal. So what’s the deal here? Am I part bovine? Was one of my great-grandmothers such an animal lover that she really did her best for Jerseymaid? Or is this just my stomach’s way of saying “hey numbnuts—try chewing this a little better next time, OK”? ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/2 "2007-12-16T21:04:52Z")
I get this too, though mostly from vegetable matter I think. No idea why, though - maybe we’re both descended from the same adventurous dairy maid. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/3 "2007-12-16T21:11:53Z")
Yeah—now that you mention it, _celery_ does the trick even more so than chicken. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/4 "2007-12-16T21:46:38Z")
You may have one of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenker's_diverticulum). Does your ‘cud’ taste like vomit or like more-or-less pristine food? It would help to know if you have problems with heartburn or swallowing in general. Also, how long after swallowing the food the first time are we talking about - a few seconds, minutes, or hours? Do you eat dessert and then burp up your main course? ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/5 "2007-12-16T21:55:02Z")
Last time this came up (sorry) on the boards, the Doper docs chimed in that this was definitely something to have checked out by your doctor. You may want to do a search, although the right search terms don’t spring immediately to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/6 "2007-12-16T21:59:33Z")
I’ll answer for me while waiting for **Washoe** to come back. (I’m intrigued now - it’s never occurred to me that this might be unusual.) [QUOTE=brossa] You may have one of these. Does your ‘cud’ taste like vomit or like more-or-less pristine food? It would help to know if you have problems with heartburn or swallowing in general. Also, how long after swallowing the food the first time are we talking about - a few seconds, minutes, or hours? Do you eat dessert and then burp up your main course? [/QUOTE] - It tastes like chewed food; it’s not icky at all like vomit would be. - I almost never get heartburn or get any other sort of swallowing or digestion issue. Actually, I’m generally considered to have a cast-iron stomach. - I’ve never really thought to time it, but I’d say any time between several minutes to an hour or so, on average. - Again, I’ve never really thought about it, especially since it’s all pre-chewed. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/7 "2007-12-16T22:05:42Z")
Pretty much ditto what **Risha** said. It just tastes like food. Usually starts a few minutes after I eat, and lasts for an hour or two. Other than that, I have no other gastrointestinal complaints. As I already mentioned, I’ve been doing this since I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/8 "2007-12-16T22:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=Washoe] Pretty much ditto what **Risha** said. It just tastes like food. Usually starts a few minutes after I eat, and lasts for an hour or two. Other than that, I have no other gastrointestinal complaints. As I already mentioned, I’ve been doing this since I was a child. [/QUOTE] It sounds like you may have an incompetent sphincter between your upper stomach and your lower esophagus. Best see your doctor. It’s not normal, and it can lead to serious problems down the road. Barrett’s esophagus for one; aspiration pneumonia, bronchospasm, and plain old erosive esophagitis, for others. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/9 "2007-12-16T22:18:14Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] It sounds like you may have an incompetent sphincter between your upper stomach and your lower esophagus. [/QUOTE] Well, If that’s the case, thank Og it’s not at the other end of the canal. 😃 So how do they treat this? ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/10 "2007-12-16T22:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] It sounds like you may have an incompetent sphincter between your upper stomach and your lower esophagus. Best see your doctor. It’s not normal, and it can lead to serious problems down the road. Barrett’s esophagus for one; aspiration pneumonia, bronchospasm, and plain old erosive esophagitis, for others. [/QUOTE] Interesting. I just did a 30-second google, and that phrase mostly seems to show up on pages about GERD. Do you have any idea why we don’t get heartburn? It seems like the acid should escape too. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/11 "2007-12-16T22:29:51Z")
Ooh—my mom has GERD. The plot thickens. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/12 "2007-12-17T00:20:58Z")
Statistically, you are more likely to have GERD than an esophageal diverticulum, just because GERD is common but Zenker’s diverticuli are rare. There are also a number of disorders of esophageal motility and anatomy that can cause retained food that do not involve GERD. We can’t diagnose you over the Internet, and it may take a moderate number of medical studies to find out what the problem really is. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/13 "2007-12-17T03:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=brossa] We can’t diagnose you over the Internet, and it may take a moderate number of medical studies to find out what the problem really is. [/QUOTE] No, of course you can’t. I was just generally curious. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/14 "2007-12-17T05:15:44Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] incompetent sphincter [/QUOTE] Band name! ---
**Author:** ![mibjo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@mibjo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mibjo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/15 "2014-12-24T11:58:50Z")
The same thing happens to me after my meals I find ma self chewing the food I dint crash properly. Guys is there any reason and solution to this ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/16 "2014-12-25T03:43:23Z")
Well, for what it’s worth, the problem vanished completely (along with all my other gastrointestinal oddities) about five years ago when I stopped consuming alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/17 "2014-12-25T04:04:13Z")
For what it’s worth, I’ve always had this condition, but a few years ago I also started having bad chest pain which at that time was diagnosed as GERD caused by hiatal hernia. It’s gotten worse, and I’ve been referred to a specialist who thinks it’s [achalasia](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000267.htm). However, this diagnosis is still tentative (awaiting further tests), and even if it is, it’s unclear whether the original “chewing cud” issue had the same cause or not. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/18 "2014-12-25T04:33:56Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Well, If that’s the case, thank Og it’s not at the other end of the canal. 😃 So how do they treat this? There’s a band (elastic? some kind of beads involved?) that they can put around the end of the esophagus. Hold on, I’ll find it… Here it is…they’re magnets. [http://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Heartburn+Device\_Acco.jpg](http://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Heartburn+Device_Acco.jpg) It’s meant for people with really bad heartburn that can’t get it under control, but it, I think, would solve this problem as well. Of course a barium swallow and endoscopy would probably be done first, ya know, before they go and open you up. Oh, and if you go looking for it I think you can find youtube videos of the installation procedure. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/19 "2014-12-25T04:43:02Z")
This is for the squeamish up to the 1 minute mark, then you see it actually being put it, so turn it off then if it bothers you. [Magnetic Sphincter for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease | NEJM - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMBc73W_gI) Here’s a better, totally animated, version of how the magnetic sphincter works. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9mpnhYgOJQ4/hqdefault.jpg "Using LINX to Treat GERD at Stony Brook Medicine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mpnhYgOJQ4) ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-chew-my-cud/430238/20 "2014-12-25T05:04:00Z")
**Qadgop the Mercotan** mentioned Barrett’s esophagus. My sister has that and has to be checked on occasion because the cells tend to be somewhat irregular and can become precancerous and then cancerous. This and because I’ve heard the acid brought up with the food is hard on the teeth is why I’ve quit (almost entirely) this lifelong habit. Maybe **Qadgop** or others can elaborate further.