How to eat properly – tips for healthy eating

Food diets and extreme exercises are all the rage right now for losing weight and for “supposedly” increasing one’s fitness. Keto diet charts and protein rich food diet fads are ubiquitous amongst overweight and obese millennials in India. While my previous post, a Rujuta Diwekar book review, shed some light on the benefits of Eat local, think global strategy in choosing the right foods to eat, this post seeks to throw some light on the actual action of eating itself, i.e to lay out in some detail how to eat properly not just the usual gyaan about avoiding junk food.

#1: How much to eat/ how much should we eat?

Most of the readers of the post must be aware of the age old eating wisdom: Stop eating when you are three quarters full. It turns out that there is a valid scientific reason for this! A research study has found that the human brain works the best when the stomach is empty! According to them, the hormone ghrelin produced by an empty stomach, signals to the brain that the stomach is hungry. But apparently, that’s not the only thing it does. Ghrelin stimulates the performance of the hippocampus, the brain region that handles learning and memory and the region that keeps us alert and focused.

Of course, the solution to this isn’t starving full time but rather watching the portions that you eat. And also, occasional fasting such as the traditional Indian Amasvasya fasting is beneficial for the same reason!

#2: Chewing your food

Chewing your food is important simply because digestion begins in your mouth with the saliva secretion. Again, it’s a proven fact that slow eaters/long chewer tend to eat lesser food portions as compared to those who eat in a hurry.

#3. Eating a well balanced diet

Ignore the latest food fads. Avoid Keto diets or other unbalanced diets such as protein rich, carb free diets. A well balanced diet in correct portion sizes involving different types of food nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, good fats and roughage helps in maintaining good health.