Why is salivating important?

Just being face to face with an appetizing dish is enough to make your mouth water. The desire to eat mixes with the delicious smell and… there you go! We’re salivating and eager to enjoy the food.

What are the benefits of glutamate?
This is simply the body preparing in advance for digestion. Seeing food and smelling its delicious aroma stimulates the human brain. In turn, it quickly plays its role by triggering the saliva-producing glands—this secretion starts the process of food digestion.
When you’re finally enjoying the food on your plate, saliva helps moisten it, allowing it to slide down your throat more easily. Not to mention that thanks to this fluid, you can better perceive the taste and aroma of the food.

Taste buds are responsible for detecting the five basic tastes of the human palate, but this sensitivity improves greatly if the food is in a liquid or pasty state. That’s why saliva is extremely important, especially when the food is solid. That’s right—and its benefits aren’t limited to taste and digestion. They go waaaay beyond. Salivating is important for your oral health!

Healthy mouth
In addition to the already mentioned functions, saliva has a bactericidal role, protecting the mouth from the action of certain pathogenic micro-organisms*. “Viruses, bacteria, and fungi of various kinds may be present in contaminated food, and often, if our immune system isn’t ready to defend itself, we end up getting infections or even food poisoning. The first line of defense in our body is saliva. It contains electrolytes, enzymes, and immunoglobulins** that act against these pathogens. However, if there is a much higher concentration of pathogens in the food, there’s no way to protect ourselves, which is why food hygiene is extremely important!” explains Hellen Maluly, PhD in Food Science and Umami specialist.
Besides providing self-cleaning of the mouth and antimicrobial action, it also protects the teeth from demineralization, since proteins present in the fluid can retain ions like calcium and phosphate.

With below-normal saliva flow, mouth cleaning is compromised, increasing the likelihood of microorganisms contributing to the development of tooth decay, infections, and gum disease. That’s why it’s important to monitor your daily salivation volume.

When the amount is insufficient, the most common symptoms are difficulty swallowing, food feeling stickier and more stuck to the teeth, gum burning, dry lips, and a tongue with heavy coating (accumulated bacterial plaque, white or yellowish in color). This low production can result from countless causes, ranging from stress, use of certain medications (antibiotics, antineoplastics, antidepressants, antihypertensives, antihistamines), hormonal or salivary gland disorders, to systemic diseases.

And what can be done in this situation? Today there are moisturizing (cleansing) gels on the market that can help, but ideally, you should always consult a doctor or dental surgeon. Only they can provide a precise diagnosis and appropriate recommendation.

Golden (umami) tip
But here’s a homemade tip that can really help: consume umami-rich foods, like tomatoes, parmesan, corn, and mushrooms—they help stimulate salivation. “Glutamate and other umami substances (like inosinate and guanylate) have the power to stimulate taste receptors and keep that stimulus going for a longer time. This same mechanism also promotes the so-called ‘Gustatory-Salivary Reflex’, which triggers saliva secretion by your glands,” explains Maluly. You can also stimulate salivation by applying gentle pressure to the salivary glands under your jaw or massaging the area just below your ears.

This tip works for everyone, even those with normal saliva flow. After all, the more saliva, the better your oral health.

* Pathogens: biological agents (viruses, fungi, and bacteria) capable of causing disease.
** Electrolytes: substances that generate positive or negative ions and can come into contact with microorganisms that are not resistant to certain concentrations and destroy them; Enzymes: organic substances, usually proteins, that catalyze biochemical reactions in the body; Immunoglobulins: glycoproteins that function as antibodies (proteins that neutralize the action of something foreign to the body) and try to block, through various mechanisms, the action of antigens (foreign molecules that may or may not be harmful).