One of the keys to sustaining improvements in the way we eat is the ability to practice
moderation in our diets. As a society, we tend to take an all or nothing approach to food, eating too much of something or trying to eliminate that food or category of foods all together. That tendency towards extremes becomes even more obvious when we look at what's happened to the food on the shelves of our local supermarkets. On the one hand, we've super sized everything, and on the other hand, we see claims like fat free and sugar
free everywhere in the supermarket, and these claims attract us because they're absolute.
But, if we can master the skill of eating with moderation, then no single food needs to be forbidden. We can eat the foods we enjoy as long as we don't consume too much of them.
How much we eat is a very important question. And how to regulate our appetite,
or moderate our appetites is very hard for people. We are socialized to eat until we're full. That's not a natural thing. And it's not a universal thing. In France when you're hungry you say I have hunger. And at the end of the meal you don't say I'm full
and you don't ask your children are you full. You say , I am no longer hungry. That's very different than being stuffed. The moment at which you're no longer hungry is many bites before the time when you're stuffed. And we ask our kids the wrong questions.
We say, are you full? We should say, are you satisfied? Are you still hungry? So you see,
there are cultural ways and mores and manners that help us deal with quantity in food. And so we have to look at things like portion size. We have to look at things like
the way we talk about food. Are people really looking for lots of calories when they eat? I think they're looking for lots of food experience, an intense satisfying food experience.
And if you look at the French, and many other cultures as well, they get more food experience with less food. And they do that partly by eating more slowly, eating socially, eating better quality food. There is a trade off between quality and quantity, and the American food system is very much organized around quantity. And in fact one of the biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic has been our tendency to consume enormous
quantities of low quality food. This is not to suggest that the foods we eat need to be expensive, but we need to spend our food budget wisely on the foods that will support
both good health and enjoyment. What about having less of the better
food and approaching that way so that every bite is enjoyable? You'll notice, everyone will notice, that whenever you're sitting down to eat the first bite is the best. And the Chinese have a saying, the banquet is in the first bite. So let's focus on those first few bites.
Smaller portions of better quality food. The book "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan talks about how different cultures deal with this question of moderation. Many cultures have a rule that basically says stop eating before you're full. Japanese say "hara hachi bu",
eat until you're 80% full. That's such a foreign concept to us, but you find this across the board. The Chinese say eat until you're 75% full.
Next time you're going to eat something, ask yourself a few questions about it. Will this food bring me pleasure or Am I eating is because it's a food I feel I'm allowed to eat? Eating food that don't bring you any pleasure is another form of taking in empty calories,
because they're empty of enjoyment. The very next question to ask about
a food you're considering eating is this. Is this food worthy of me? And by this I mean,
will this food support me in achieving all of the things I want to achieve in
the long run, including good health? If the answer to this question is yes,
then the very next question is how much of this food do I really need to eat to
feel satisfied, knowing that I can have it again tomorrow or later this week because
I've mastered the art of moderation? Each day should include moderate
amounts of food that bring us pleasure. Moderation allows us to live at peace
with our food, knowing that subtle variations won't be enough to destabilize the healthy relationship.
Learn More about Natural whole foods here in our website www.cafemillets.com .
Cafemillets offers Unpolished Traditional Rice, Unpolished Millets,Cold Pressed Oils, Idli Batter,Dry chutney powder, Sukkumalli powder(Dry Ginger powder),
Country sugar, Palm Jaggery, Whole Flax Seeds, Sprouted Rai Flour, Health Mix etc.
Please visit 'shop' tab from menu in our website to place order.
Join us in our endeavor to promote Natural Whole
foods as an healthier option to junk foods and work towards making our society healthier.
Say NO to processed food and say YES to natural foods. Let food be thy medicine.
thanks for your visiting our website.
Comments