What We Eat and How We Eat Matter

“You are what you eat” this phrase has many truths to it, we are the qualities of what we eat. Some people added “and digest well” to the end of it, because if we don’t digest the food well, we lose many nutrients that we need. While the quality of what we eat is very important to maintain our health, I have been exploring another factor that is very important and has the ability to influence our choices in what we eat. It is how we eat.

 

Take a minute to reflect on how you eat, how fast or slow, do you eat standing or sitting?, do you eat in a rush most of the time?, do you really taste the food you are eating while you are eating?

 

In my own observation on how I felt when I was eating slowly, I found that:

• Good quality food tasted so much better, even if I’m just eating a tomato.
• I ate less of what I intend to eat while still feeing full
• When I ate junk food, I stopped after few bites because I realized it didn’t taste good after all.

 

When we eat quickly we deprive our self from so much sensory pleasure that we get from food, we don’t really pay attention to the taste or our level of fullness. It is really difficult to over eat when we eat slowly, and that is something many of us feel guilty about after a big meal. In 1986, the Slow Food movement started in Italy to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, now it has grown to an international movement.

“Appropriately, we will start in the kitchen, with Slow Food. To escape the tediousness of “fast-food”, let us rediscover the rich varieties and aromas of local cuisines.
In the name of productivity, the ‘fast life’ has changed our lifestyle and now threatens our environment and our land (and city) scapes. Slow Food is the alternative, the avant-garde’s riposte.”

You can read the full manifesto here

Paying attention to what we eat is also very important. It is also easier to over eat while watching TV or on the computer, eating becomes a mindless act and we end up not knowing where that bag of chips or popcorn went, yet we still don’t have the satisfaction of enjoying eating.

 

 

Next time you sit and eat, I invite you to:

• Keep all devices and electronics away.
• Sit in a comfortable position.
• Take smaller bites and chew slowly.
• Taste the food and be aware of the different textures and tastes.
• After your meal observe how you feel.

I know it is not possible in the fast pace of life we live in, to eat slowly every single meal, I would encourage you to do that at least once a day, and when you don’t, check and be aware of how the difference makes you feel.