6 reasons why you should eat with your hands! Benefits of eating with hands
There are many hidden benefits of eating
food with hands. Check them out here to ditch those forks and spoons, and start
using your hands to eat.
Eating with hands is an age old
tradition followed in India. But unfortunately, this tradition is rapidly
disappearing among new generation that is more inclined towards Western
culture. They prefer eating with spoons and forks instead of hands. In fact, in
today’s times, the practice of eating with hands is considered to be
unhygienic, disgusting and primitive. It's really bad that most people are
unaware of the fact that this ancient practice has a number of health benefits.
Even in Ayurveda, it has been mentioned that eating with your hands can benefit
your health in numerous ways. A few surprising benefits of eating with hands
are given below. Take a look and you’re sure to ditch those spoons and forks
right away.
According to a study published by
the American Academy of Food Science, eating with hands is much more beneficial
to health than eating with the spoon, fork and knife. Because eating with your
hands makes you feel full, sooner and thus prevent you from overeating.
Moreover, using your hands facilitates your body to readily absorb more
nutrients because the food that you eat is also absorbed into your bloodstream
through your hands unlike when you eat with spoons or forks. There are many
other benefits like these that support the practice of eating with hands.
1. Increase energy levels
According to Ayurveda, human body is
composed of five elements - air, water, fire, earth and space.
Thumb:
Fire
Index
finger: Air
Middle
finger: Heaven
Ring
finger: Earth
Little
finger: Water
An imbalance in any one of these
elements can disrupt the immunity system and cause various diseases. Also
ayurvedic texts teaches us that each of our finger is related to one of the
five elements (the thumb indicates fire, the index finger represents air, the
middle finger correlates with sky, the ring finger indicates earth and the
little finger indicates water). So when you join your fingers and thumb to eat
food, you unknowingly bring all these five elements together and keep them in
harmony with one another. Eventually, the energy level of your body increases
and helps you stay healthy.
2. Improves digestion
The moment you touch the food with
your hands, your brain will signal your stomach that you’re about to eat. The
nerve endings in your fingers will sense the temperature of the food, level of
spiciness, etc. and accordingly the brain will tell your stomach to produce the
required digestive juices and enzymes. All this happens even before you put the
food in your mouth and thus helps digestion significantly.
3. Protects your mouth from getting
burnt
When eating with hands, you’ll never
burn your mouth by putting something that is too hot to eat. Because your hands
can gauge how hot the food is. On the other hand, when you use a spoon or fork
to eat, the food goes directly from your plate into your mouth. In this case,
you’re more likely to scald your tongue or burn your mouth as your brain will
not get the signal whether the food is too hot for you to put in your mouth.
4. Promotes mindful eating and help
with weight loss
When eating with hands, your total
concentration will be on your food and plate. You’ll pay attention to what
you’re eating and how much you’re eating. Such ‘mindful eating’ is beneficial
for your health in a number of ways. For instance, it improves the assimilation
of nutrients from the food you eat, enhances digestion, and help you maintain
weight. On the contrary, eating with a spoon or a fork promotes mindless eating
that causes people to eat more than they realize.
5. Protects your body from harmful
bacteria
Not all bacteria are bad - some
bacteria are really good for your body and they protect you from various
harmful bacteria present in the environment. Some of these good bacteria also
reside on our hands. So when you eat with your hands, you will consume these
beneficial bacteria along with food. And this in turn will help maintain the
natural balance of good and bad bacteria in your body. However, make sure to
wash your hands before and after meals to keep them clean and hygienic.
6. Makes eating fun
Eating with your hands is not only
good for your health, but also makes eating more fun! Also it is believed that
food tastes better when you have it with your hands. So, next time when you
have a meal with your friends of family, just try serving it up without silverware,
and see how everyone enjoys your food more!
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