Let's Get Sensual

Now don't go judging me, this may not be what you're thinking.  

In what everyday scenarios are all five of your senses stimulated for the experience?

We don't really think about nutrition being a sensual experience but that is exactly what it is. We have a connection to food that can come from smells, sounds, and so on. 

With sight you see how a food is plated, and it's art. You have a bias before the food even touches your lips. This is also present in your perception of how the food will taste, whether it will be juicy, rich, dense, flaky and onward. This bias is furthered by the smell of the food.  French fries, watermelons, and chocolate bring different memories and offer different experiences. Restaurants now send scents outside of their buildings to invoke this senses to increase cravings and drive customers to purchase. 

The feel, the hands on feel, has changed with the use of silverware. I am reminded of an African friend when asked about silverware he said, "I've got a spoon" touching each individual figure spelling S, P, O, O, N. Think back to how you ate as a kid or the difference between eating at home versus a restaurant. Then think of eating a steak versus eating hamburgers at a cook out. 

The hardest scenario to link to eating is sound. How does this connect to what I eat? Think about when you are sitting in class and someone crinkles the wrapper of a food item. Automatically you are stimulated to think of what that food is and may start to salivate.  How about ordering a sizzling fajita plate?

Obviously taste is essential to food. If you have something that looks delicious but tastes pungent and repulsive you will not go back for seconds.

Let's this be a reminder to you, that taking the time to increase your awareness of the food you're eating may increase the pleasure we draw from food. This is called mindful eating.

Let me know how your food experience is impacted by your senses!

- Eat Wise

Fountain of Youth

  Throughout history there have been a mystical location, where magical powers enable individuals to live forever and gain immortality. Kings have sent explorers around the world to gain gold, power, and health.  
  The fountain of youth is no longer a place explorers set out for in the name of their king and queen. We have become more self centered and now the fountain of youth has now become a foreign fruit full of antioxidants, high in carotenoids and beneficial to those suffering from depression, fatigue, exhaustion, wrinkles, or a lack of having your dreams come true. 
  Acai berries nor spinach will make you drop weight faster than eating cucumber or blueberries. They have different nutrient components, it's true, but they are still all good for you. When someone wants to know THE BEST fruit to eat, I tell them the one they like. If you don't like the food you eat you won't continue eating it. Now, there are differences between fruits and vegetables and certain medications interact with various vegetables (if you take these your doctor should have made you aware). 
   The bottom line is you will not continue to eat food you don't like no matter how healthy it is. We have become a society of martyrs and self mutilators. In order to be healthy we have to be at our "ideal" weight and in order to do that we have to eat food we don't like. One of the most pleasurable experiences in life comes from eating food.
  The fountain of youth is a mindset and the underlying desire for finding it is a fear of death.  There is nothing to fear about death. If we worry too much that prevents us from living the life we want and what is the point in living if we think about dying the whole time?  We need to find peace in ourselves, in whatever non-self mutilating way we can. You are amazing, you've lived however long you have and done with you life what you've been able to, now you're just going to make it better.


Let me know what you think!

-Eat Wise