Swallowing: Definition and Evolution in the Different Stages of Life
摘要
Eating is one of the two vital functions for survival. “A baby girl is born and the first thing she does is breathe, the second is trying to feed herself. As her whimpers show, she knows nothing and wants nothing else. Bare life is breath and food...She will need someone to support her for walking, she will need other human beings for learning to speak, but she doesn’t need anything for breathing and eating: she already knows how to do it herself” (Mancuso 2015). Eating is not only essential for biological survival, but it also plays a fundamental role in the life of every human being for the many meanings it has as far as the relational, affective, and religious aspects of life are concerned (Amitrano A. Dyspagia and nutrition, Springer, 2024). The set of values of food has a strong impact in determining quality of life since, as mentioned, food is not only the energy support of the body but also an opportunity for participation in social life. It should also be considered that food is a source of pleasure for all the senses, not only, obviously, for taste and smell but also for sight and touch: In star-rated cooking, plating is a determining element for the success of a dish. The direct contact with the food that you get by eating with your hands has contributed to the success of finger food, in which handling with fingers represents a key component in the consumption of certain foods.