Rumination syndrome the syndrome in mentally healthy patients appeared thereafter. At first, adult rumination was described and treated as a benign condition. It is now described as otherwise. While the base of patients to examine has gradually increased as more and more people come forward with their symptoms, awareness of the condition by the medical community and the general public is still limited. The chewing of cud by animals such as cows, goats, and giraffes is considered normal behavior. These animals are known as ruminants. Such behavior, though termed rumination, is not related to human rumination syndrome, but is ordinary. Involuntary rumination,
Chewing sensory perception of the food being eaten, controlling when the food is swallowed. Avoiding chewing, by choice or due to medical reasons as tooth loss, is known as a soft diet. Such a diet may lead to inadequate nutrition due to a reduction in fruit and vegetable intake. Chewing also stimulates the hippocampus and is necessary to maintain its normal function. Chewing is largely an adaptation for mammalian herbivory. Carnivores generally chew very little or swallow their food whole or in chunks. This act of gulping food (or medicine pills) without chewing has inspired the English idiom "wolfing it down".