The benefits of slow eating include better digestion, better hydration, easier weight loss or maintenance, and greater satisfaction with our meals. Meanwhile, eating fast leads to poor digestion, increased weight gain, and lower satisfaction. The message is clear: Slow down your eating and enjoy improved health and well-being.
How you consume your food holds a lot of significance, as the speed of food intake is paramount. Slow eating leads to better digestion of food, gives great satisfaction, and also helps in reducing weight. It is important to cultivate the habit of mindful eating. One should neither eat too slow nor too fast. Mindfulness while eating helps in optimal digestion and is considered to improve glycaemic control. Overwhelming emotions during the consumption of food and digestion have been linked to irregular and incongruous digestive processes, said Dr. Sukeshini Ramteke, Physiotherapy, Yoga, Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Consultant, AXIS Hospital.
Dr Ramteke said, practising these rules in your daily life will help in preventing the dysfunction of agni, which evades the formation of metabolic derangements, toxins, and undigested food, and is highly beneficial in maintaining the tridosha’s homeostasis.
You must eat only when you are hungry after your previous meal is digested. If you eat before your previous meal is fully digested, it may imbalance the doshas and create inflammation at the cellular level. Avoid the consumption of stale food, as it gets oxidised very fast and gives rise to lipid peroxidation, causing cell damage in the body, she added.
It is important to make sure that you only consume warm, fresh, and good-quality food, as it promotes digestive power and helps in the peristaltic movement of the intestines. Only eat food that provides nourishment to one’s particular constitution and which is suitable to one’s mental and emotional well-being.
