Sunday breakfast indian-style: a meal that just requires to be eaten with the hands

I was about to start my meal at the canteen with my colleagues yesterday when I decided it was time to take the dive and eat with my hands. Boy, was it an exercise, I mean a physical exercise.

As a first-timer I was quite slow: I’ve read it is most polite to use your thumb, pointer and middle finger, and to let only the first two joints of those fingers touch the food.  I’m not sure that I did all that. Also you only eat with your right hand,  even if you’re a lefty. The left hand will take care of menial things such as wiping your tears of eyes after a spicy curry. The whole meal activates so many muscles that it left me exhausted.  It got me thinking about the lack of thought and the lack of physical effort me and my folks, in  westernized countries, put into the act of eating. Eating with the hands is common in many areas of the world, including parts of Asia and much of Africa and the Middle East and it has plenty of health benefits.

First when you eat with your hand(s), you do it carefully, you  pay attention to your food. This mindfulness is a stress reduction factor, you actually take a break. As you’re not using a knife you masticate more patiently thus helping the digestion process. Also you tend to eat real slow and it takes 15 to 20 minutes for the stomach to signal to the brain that you’re full, so eating with the hands gives the brain more time to realize you’ve had enough to eat.

Oh and may I add that hamburgers, fries, pastries, hot dogs, pop corn, pan pizzas and other mellow, chewy foods do not count…

So Western readers, time to drop the fork ?