Chewing is extremely important, and since it's so increasingly common to drink something with meals, people are doing it less and less. I've even heard people

Chewing is extremely important, and since it's so increasingly common to drink something with meals, people are doing it less and less. I've even heard people say the can't not-drink with meals because they'd choke. To which I simply reply "Well, I chew my food and that avoids the choking". A bit of liquid with dry foods helps digestion, but otherwise it's unnecessary, and even unhealthy in the excess commonly seen today. I lost a lot of weight and had several other health benefits when I started chewing a lot more my food (like going to the loo with great ease).