Part of your wisdom portfolio
[All right, all right, I am also fed up with listicles. But I couldn’t help it. It was sitting there begging, with a ‘please, pretty please’ expression, and I just had to pick it up. But forbear and continue, dear reader. It’s worth it, I promise you.]
I am a great believer in eating slowly, and I must share my experience as I want you to gain these excellent benefits too. Here they are.
#1 Reason — It’s excellent for digestion today
When we eat slowly, we chew our food more, and it mixes well with our saliva, which softens it and begins the process of digestion. It also gives our system time to signal our brain that we are satiated. Together, the preparation in the mouth and reduced food load lower the strain on our stomach and intestines and help them perform better. We also end up avoiding bloating, acidity, reflux, and constipation.
#2 Reason — It makes us healthier in the long run
Over a lifetime, slow eating improves our well-being significantly. We are not cave-dwellers. Eating every meal like it may be our last for days is unnecessary and harmful. By eating slowly, we get more nutritional value from our food and avoid obesity. Our physical and mental health become markedly better just by taking more time over breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
#3 Reason — It improves mindfulness and maturity
Slowing down while eating makes us pay attention to the food, how much we put into our mouth at a time, and how we are chewing it, tasting it, and swallowing it. It brings our mind to the present from the past and future. This centring on the now relieves us of anxiety, annoyance and sadness. It has the power of meditation or Tai Chi to strengthen our minds and increase our consciousness and self-control. We get the opportunity to appreciate the food, its preparation, and the cook (vocally). Conscious eating makes us mature and emotionally intelligent.
#4 Reason — It’s good for the planet
By eating slowly, we consume at least 10% less food and prevent several ailments every year. If we all practised it, we could multiply this by the 7.9 billion people on the planet. We would appreciably reduce the burden humanity puts on Mother Earth in greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, trash, and the load on health systems. Slow eating can greatly contribute to the enormous effort we need to save ourselves from global warming.
#5 Reason — We can multiply life’s joy!
Most of us love food. So why would we not experience something longer that we enjoy so much? Slurping down ice cream in 5 minutes can become 15 minutes of dreamy pleasure. Savouring a biryani for 7 minutes can become 20 minutes of lip-smacking delight. Giving ourselves 10 minutes more at breakfast and 20 minutes more for lunch and dinner every day will add a full year of joy in life for free. And a lot more in indirect happiness. Don’t you want that? I sure do.
So eat your way slowly to good health and good times, my dear friend.
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