Mindful Eating
by Sheela Rani Chunkath
Traditionally meals were eaten quietly and without a lot of chatter and noise. The mother would often serve the food and other than asking for another helping or so there would not be much unnecessary talk. Today we either eat on the run or as a group discussing, partying or laughing that we often don't register what we are eating.
As part of a Yoga Acharya Programme that I am attending we had a session on 'mindful eating'. All of us had brought various dishes from home. We were to lay it out in the middle, look at and appreciate the food, savour the aroma, and let the salivary juices flow. This is necessary to physiologically prepare our body and digestive system to receive the food. When we eat hurriedly the brain has practically no time to signal the digestive system to get ready and we end up with various digestive problems. Some of us took a minute off to just close our eyes and be thankful for the food we had been given and the company we were in.
We had been told that we could eat as much as we wanted but that we would have to eat in silence (as far as possible) and that every mouthful had to be chews at least about 30 times till the food was well masticated and had practically become a liquid. We could reach for the next handful of food only after swallowing what we had already put in our mouths. We have been told many times to chew our food well but many of us don’t take it too seriously and generally swallow our food almost whole or very lightly chewed. For those who have a metabolic problem like diabetes or a weight problem, chewing food well before taking the next morsel definitely makes you eat far less. It gives time for the brain to register the fact you have eaten well and the feeling of fullness or satiety will register sooner during your meal.
Eating mindfully makes you aware of the various spices and ingredients that go into making the food. It gives you time to reflect whether it is good for you or not. You can reflect on the wonderful red colour of the beetroot and how full of iron it is. If you are a diabetic you may want to eat less of it though because it is sweet. It gives you time to think of the mountain slopes where the beetroot is grown and of the farmers and their families who have toiled to reach it to you.You may become aware of whether the food you are eating is safe, whether it was drenched in pesticides or whether it was organically grown.
Mindful eating in every meal helps you become aware of many things. A piece of pizza if eaten mindfully will help you ponder (when you are chewing that piece 30 times) over its nutritional value, the preservatives used in the toppings, the nitrites used in the meals, why our children love it. Since the food we eat in large measure determines our health we need to be aware of all that we eat whether it is the biscuit we have at tea time which is often full of transfats and preservatives or the paan at the end of a meal which is filled with gulkhand made from rose petals drenched with pesticide.
In addition to mindful eating, we need to eat only when we are hungry and definitely only when our previous meal has digested. Think about how our digestion is happening. The food has entered the stomach and the idli and chutney and ghee is being broken up and being acted upon by the stomach acid and other enzymes. The contraction of the stomach helps to break down the food and all is going well when suddenly some more food - a half chewed up biscuit enters the stomach. Now how does the digestive system proceed. Should it work on the previous food or the food that has just entered. So partially digested food goes into the small intestine and the scene is set for ill health. Repeated abuse of the digestive system fosters all kinds of diseases. So it is worthwhile to pay attention to what we eat, how much we eat or at what frequency.
Mindful eating can be a beginning to bring about changes in our eating habits. Of course all of us did miss the chatter and camaraderie that usually accompanied our shared lunches but we are hoping to make it up at other times.
--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/