Slow Down, Savor Your Food For Your Health and The Environment

Posted by Ecolicious in Articles, Health | 3 comments

Why do we eat so fast? My husband is the worst. I joke that he inhales his plate before anyone else takes a bite. Over the years, I’ve learned to eat quickly with him, but this hasn’t been good on my health or my waistline.

Today, my oldest daughter let me know, as I passed her on the way to the kitchen, that she really loves the extra time she has to eat breakfast on the weekends. Poor girl! We are always rushing in the morning. We rush to get dressed, combed, fed and out the door on time. We could get up earlier, but that would mean less sleep.

In our society we are always eating fast and on the go because we are busy. We stuff our meals into our bodies without a thought, mindless eating. We don’t think about what we’re eating, why we’re eating it or how much we’re eating. We treat our bodies like food disposals and then we wonder why we feel and look the way we do.

Just take a look at people as they eat in front of the TV, in the car, at work, at home and even at sit down restaurants. Who’s chewing their food and who is just gobbling it down? It isn’t pretty is it?

It takes our brains about 15-20 minutes to signal to our bodies that we are full . Most of us eat so fast we don’t give our bodies enough time to get that signal and so we overeat. Essentially if we eat slower we’ll eat less. In turn it makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight. Chewing more is also easier on our digestive system. Our digestive system doesn’t have to work so hard when we use our teeth to help break down the food. Eating slower is also great way to save money. Because we eat less our portion sizes are smaller, therefore we buy less. In a way chewing slower is also good for the environment. Why? We eat less and so less has to be killed (plant and animal) to feed us.

Eating slower is one of the most difficult tasks for me to accomplish. I’ve grown so accustomed to stuffing my face, so I have to make myself think about chewing, putting my fork down between bites and savoring the food. I’ll know with practice I will learn to slow down. If I can’t slow down during the busy week, I practice on the weekends.

I just have to keep reminding myself that something gave it’s life (plant or animal) to feed me and then someone took the time to deliver the food to a store near me. Finally someone put a lot of love into cooking it and serving it on my plate. It would be selfish and disrespectful of me not slow down and savor it.

I’m hoping my example will rub off on my husband and children.

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Image Credit: Savor Your Food by Ecolicious on Zazzle

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