When we eat while doing other things, e.g. we work or watch TV, then we tend to eat larger amounts. But if when we eat, we try to do nothing but enjoy every bite, then we better understand what we eat and especially how much food we consume.
With the fast and stressful pace we live in today, eating has become just another chore that needs to be done quickly like any other. It is not rare that we grab something to eat without wasting time because we have to catch up on something else that we consider more important. Working lunches have become routine now. We may eat at the workplace while working or we are driving to go somewhere and in order not to waste time we eat while driving.
The fast way we eat and the combination of eating with other activities is not only seen in adults. The same is happening today with our children who follow the example and our own frantic pace. Most families also watch TV when they eat. It is indeed rare that when one eats one concentrates only on one’s food and enjoys it without doing anything else. The negative effects on our health of this careless way of eating are significant.
Research has shown that there is a connection between the brain and the way we eat. If while eating, our mind is simultaneously occupied with other things, then the digestion process is 30% to 40% less efficient.
The main negative consequence of this behaviour is overeating and obesity!!!
There are a few rules for eating time:
- Avoid doing other things while eating! Concentrate on the food you eat and enjoy the rich experience it offers you.
- Try to get away from any other meditations and thoughts.
- Eat slowly and chew food more.
- Eat without watching TV, reading newspapers/magazines or engaging with Facebook or Instagram.
- Eat sitting at the table and not standing.
- Eat on a plate and don’t snack.
- Put regular amounts of food on your plate and try to eat them in no less than twenty minutes.
When we start eating, the brain receives signals about the amounts we have taken in through some peptides produced by the digestive system and especially the stomach. When our food needs are about to be met, then the centers of the brain make us stop eating! This regulatory mechanism does not work normally if we do other things when we eat. The sense of taste and fullness are not perceived by the brain as it should because it is busy with other processes or thoughts that we do while eating. The result is that the brain does not make us stop eating more food. In addition to this mechanism, we must not forget that stress, our mental mood, sleep deprivation are also factors that affect the signals sent by the brain for the need to consume food.
So, what should we do to avoid the careless way we eat?
The main thing is to be careful when we eat not to do things, but to concentrate with knowledge and awareness on the experience of eating. We should as best as possible avoid doing other things, not let our mind fly to many other thoughts, meditations and problems but concentrate on the pleasures, tastes, smells, chewing and swallowing of what we eat! The importance of the way we eat is very important in our time where the obesity epidemic threatens us with so much suffering.