Conscious and Peaceful Eating

“There is no love sincerer than the love of Food.”- George B. Shaw

We are what we eat. More than herbs, vitamins, enzymes, or mineral supplements, food is the major factor that most affects our metabolism. Supplements or herbs can never make up for an imbalanced diet. it is seriously delusional to think popping a handful of supplements will make up for a poor diet of soda and TV dinners. For good health and well-being, a heavy emphasis is placed upon quality food.

Mindful eating involves paying closer attention to your food and how it makes you feel. In addition to helping you learn to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, it may also help reduce disordered eating behaviors and support weight loss.

How It Works:

Being conscious/ thoughtful while eating focuses on your eating experiences, body-related sensations, and thoughts and feelings about food, with heightened awareness and without judgment. Attention is paid to the foods being chosen, internal and external physical cues, and your responses to those cues. The goal is to promote a more enjoyable meal experience and understanding of the eating environment. Fung and colleagues described a mindful eating model that is guided by four aspects: what to eat, why we eat what we eat, how much to eat, and how to eat.

Practices to follow Conscious Eating:

To follow an ayurvedic diet, it is necessary to know your ‘Doshic’ condition so that you may follow the appropriate recommendations for your body type. Food is a major part of our social interactions. When dining at a friend’s place; it is best to eat what they have prepared… Enjoy the meal and the company, returning to your diet when at home. It takes a while to adjust to a new way of eating. those who change from eating high protein diet, to a diet of only fruits and vegetables, may cleanse too quickly and experience gas or diarrhoea. If you experience poor digestion or malabsorption, it is necessary to attend to those issues first.

• Always transition gradually into the new way of eating. If you eat fried foods, transition to foods that are baked, broiled or steamed. Remember, do not drink much with your meals because liquid dilute your digestive power. As you experience observable benefits in your well-being, it is easier to feel inspired to cut inappropriate foods from your diet.
• Food should be eaten as fresh as possible or freshly cooked or juiced. Always buy organic when available. it is best to stay away from foods grown with pesticides or inorganic fertilizers. Eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible.
• Food combining is important. improper food combining causes poor digestion and malabsorption of nutrients because different types of foods require different kinds of digestive enzymes. Digestion is easier if the foods within the stomach at any particular time require the same enzymes.
• Also, do not become focused on limited choices. Be sure, that you do not eat too much of a few foods and not enough of others. Remember, the variety is the spice of life. Getting too much of one food, combined with poor digestion, may cause allergies. if you are allergic, a diet diary is recommended. this is often useful so that you can see for yourself what your symptoms are and how often you are eating the same food over and over again.
• Serve in modest portions. This can help avoid overeating and food waste. Use a dinner plate no larger than 9 inches across and fill it only once. The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ, the size of our hands put together as follows: With palms facing each other, place the heels of your wrists together and put all the finger-tips together. Then arch of the palms outward creating a ball. this demonstrates the natural size of your stomach before any food expansion. When you fill your stomach more than its natural size, the muscular activity is not as efficient and digestion will take longer. Any excess turns into Ama, which is toxic waste matter that is immediately digested, and then deposited within the body. In most cases, when overeating occurs, it means that the body is not getting enough nutrition and continually wants more.
• Chewing is also important because digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing is the first stage of digestion. Small particle size ensures that the enzymes can do their work. Chewing each bite 30+ times is necessary to liquefy the food for easier digestion. this will ensure complete assimilation of all the nutrients. you won’t need to eat so much.
• It is important to remember that eating should be a time of quiet, not for handling business, or discussing the challenges of life. Eating on the run or in stressful situations is extremely harmful. if at all possible, sit down and have a peaceful meal. This is imperative to the achievement of perfect health. Always remember to bless your food and remember the Mother Earth who provides for us all. Eating in silence results into focusing on how the food makes you feel and stopping eating when you’re full.
• Start preparing yourself for winter by building up the immune system with foods that provide good, physical nourishment; squashes, apples, oranges, onions, cabbage, and turnips. many of these harvested crops will last through the winter by drying, canning, pickling, freezing or storing in a food cellar. Eat a plant-based diet, for your health and for the planet. Consider the long-term effects of eating certain foods. Processed meat and saturated fat are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer and heart disease. Production of animal-based foods like meat and dairy takes a heavier toll on our environment than plant-based foods.
• Honour/ Acknowledge/Appreciate your food is also beneficial. Whatever you are eating, do not criticize on its quality, preparation faults like no taste, not properly cooked (under/over/burnt).
• Do not use food to cope with your guilt and anxiety. It results into overeating and eating foods which are not at all healthy. Generally when we eat in these types of situation, we do not think what we bingeing (lots of oils/ sugar/ unhealthy spices or ingredients). We should try to avoid junk/fast foods at this time.
• Engage all senses. Notice the sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and textures of the food and how you feel when eating. Pause periodically to engage these senses.
• Don’t skip meals. Going too long without eating increases the risk of strong hunger, which may lead to the quickest and easiest food choice, not always a healthful one. Setting meals at around the same time each day, as well as planning for enough time to enjoy a meal or snack reduces these risks.

Today’s fast-paced society offers people an abundance of food choices. On top of that, distractions have shifted attention away from the actual act of eating toward televisions, computers, and smartphones. Eating has become a mindless act, often done quickly. This can be problematic since it takes time for your brain to register that you’re full. You also increase your awareness of triggers that make you want to eat, even though you’re not necessarily hungry

Conscious eating relies on mindfulness, a form of meditation. Mindful eating is about developing awareness of your experiences, physical cues, and feelings about food. By eating consciously, you restore your attention and slow down, making eating an intentional act instead of an automatic one.

Matter referenced from:

1. Light Miller, Have A Peaceful Meal, pp-02, The Speaking Tree, Ahmedabad, Times of India/ 03.11.2019.
2. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mindful-eating-guide#bottom-line
3. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/mindful-eating/

By: Dr. Bhawana Asnani.

Happy to see Reviews, Additions, Suggestions and Comments, further.