Chinese dieters are chewing on baby biscuits and TCM roots to lose weight—and the trend says something about modern diet culture

A novel diet craze is gripping young people in China, with no calorie counting or carbohydrate restriction in sight. Instead, they are turning to hard-to-chew foods and traditional Chinese medicine roots for weight loss. According to the South China Morning Post, snacks like beef jerky, frozen buns, baby teething biscuits, and TCM roots are in vogue.

The reasoning is simple: these tough, chewy treats keep the mouth busy, slow down eating, and give the illusion of satiety, ultimately reducing the temptation to overeat. Taste takes a backseat as the hardness of the snack is deemed the key factor. One 37-year-old Guangxi resident has embraced chewing dangshen, a root used in TCM for strengthening the spleen and lungs, claiming it helps her stay focused at work without adding calories.

Another individual partakes in consuming beef jerky and sugar-free gum, reporting that it alleviates anxiety and maintains oral hygiene during exam periods. People are also seeking out historically tough foods, such as the Zhoushan hard cake and fried rice cookies. Chewing has been linked to stress relief, and TCM principles emphasize thorough chewing for digestive health and metabolism.

This trend, while seemingly harmless, sheds light on the broader issue of diet culture and the lengths people go to manage weight without feeling like they're dieting. This strategy of redirecting the urge to eat into prolonged chewing offers an alternative to the tedious advice of conventional diets, reflecting how deeply ingrained the notion of constant body management has become in our culture.