In the digital age it is easy to neglect how necessary it’s, for well being and nicely being, to decelerate get pleasure from every meal.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
There are plenty of causes we would scarf down our meals – tight deadlines, brief lunch breaks at work, perhaps even a way that if we might simply eat just a little quicker, we’ll by some means be extra productive. For those that have not had entry to meals at house, there could also be a sense of urgency on the desk, and for some, consuming rapidly whereas distracted by a display screen would possibly simply be a behavior lately.
LILIAN CHEUNG: People will not be consuming, actually, sitting right down to eat a meal. Very usually, we discovered ourselves consuming one thing and doing one thing else.
MARIELLE SEGARRA, BYLINE: Lilian Cheung is a lecturer on vitamin and the director of mindfulness analysis and follow at Harvard University. Marielle Segarra, the host of NPR’s Life Kit, talked to Cheung and shares a few of the strategies you should use to decelerate and spot your meals.
SEGARRA: Lilian Cheung says the rule of thumb from nutritionists is to spend no less than 20 minutes consuming each meal.
CHEUNG: Because it takes about that point in your physique to get the sign to the mind that you’re full.
SEGARRA: If you are used to consuming quick, that’ll most likely really feel like a glacial tempo, so listed below are some issues that may aid you decelerate. First, put aside time to eat and solely eat.
CHEUNG: Make positive your cellphone shouldn’t be with you or is face down, and you are not going to be responding to any messages that come by way of.
SEGARRA: Next, interact your senses. Ask your self, how does this recipe style? Is it salty, candy? Or have a look at the bell pepper within the dish. Notice its shiny yellow colour. Another factor you are able to do is take smaller parts to the desk. Maybe you are eager for potato chips. So take a handful, put them in a dish and put the bag away. Then sit down, and when you’re consuming them, discover their saltiness and their crispness.
CHEUNG: And thank the universe for the correct local weather to have the ability to have that potato and the manpower that has been engaged in making it obtainable not solely on the manufacturing facility but in addition transportation to get the chips to the grocery store, and many others.
SEGARRA: You may say affirmations to your self, like I’m not in a rush, or I get pleasure from my meals. Oh, and do not forget to chew.
CHEUNG: We do not chew sufficient, and we simply swallow the meals. It’s tougher on our digestion that manner. So chewing – our enamel are opposed to assist us to interrupt up the meals in order that it is simpler for absorption.
SEGARRA: Sometimes we actually do not have plenty of time to eat a meal. I keep in mind after I labored at a clothes retailer, I solely received quarter-hour to eat.
CHEUNG: In that case, I’d cut up up the meal. Eat at a very good tempo that you simply discover comfy. Save it for later for a snack.
SEGARRA: And if it’s important to sit and eat at a desk, she says, do not have a look at your e mail, and set expectations together with your coworkers. Put an away message on Slack. Or if someone comes as much as you, you might simply be like, hey, consuming – I’ll get again to you.
CHEUNG: That’s proper. And you simply inform them, I’ve to nourish my thoughts and my physique with this meals.
SEGARRA: It is a really healthful factor to say, and nobody will dare query you. For NPR News, I’m Marielle Segarra.
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DETROW: For extra Life Kit, try npr.org/lifekit.
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