Bite by Bite

Nutrition is the science that deals with the nutrients present in food that helps in maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion. Nutrition impacts great influence in an individual. Our eating habits determine our behaviour towards particular food. They say, you are what you eat. And how you eat is also great phenomenon to which we all should pay attention to this. Eating mindfully and eating right both should be the objective for all of us.

Emphasising on good nutritional practices and providing awareness regarding healthy eating habits to all is the main objective of March Nutrition Month 2020. Nutrition month is celebrated all over the world. The campaign comprises of health seminars, conferences, symposium and nutrition camps in hospitals and institutes which aim to provide awareness about nutrition. This year the theme of the month is ‘Eat Right, Bite by Bite.’ We will discuss about this year’s theme in this article.

It’s very important to know that eating mindfully, chewing thoroughly and slowly are the key points in the process of eating right. Know the difference between your hunger and thirst. Eat only when you really feel like hungry. Chew the bite slowly and savour each bite. Research has shown that every bite taken by a man is equal to about 17 calories, while women consume about 11 calories per bite. With 100 bites, the daily caloric intake would total 1,700 for men and 1,100 for women. Reducing bite sizes during a meal may help those trying to lower their food intake. Eating, bite by bite slows down the eating process. It helps in better digestion, better hydration and even helps in losing and maintaining weight. Eating, bite by bite provides better satisfaction with meals. It helps in hormonal balances and better weight loss. Conscious eating is so helpful in reducing calorie intake and reduces weight gain problems.

Eating quickly not only causes you to eat more, it also increases the amount of air a person swallows, which can lead to more gas building up in the gastrointestinal tract and may cause bloating. Over intake of food has an inevitably harmful effect on health. The objective of chewing the food is to enhance the food digestibility and to make it more palatable and soft.

Here are few tips to keep in mind in order to eat right, bite by bite.

1) Do not overfill your spoon or fork, food should not be falling off from your spoon.

2) Chew each bite 15-20 times more to enhance the food digestibility.

3) Savour the food, swallow the bite before taking the next bite.

4) Take pause between bites, this will help you to know your hunger is being satisfied.

This nutrition month, let’s engage ourselves in cultivating more good nutrition practices and mindful eating behaviour. Three rules to keep in mind while eating: bite, chew and savour. Let’s enjoy food and stay healthy.

– Contributions from our reader

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