Food is the building block of nutrients in our bodies. The daily activities that we perform which include our physical movements, walking, jogging, running, playing, etc require a good amount of essential nutrients. Food also plays a prominent role in deciding our thoughts and emotions. Due to the significant importance of food in our life, it is necessary that we understand the best ways to consume them.
Let us look at some
of the best practices we can follow to ensure that we get the best out of the
food that we eat :
·
Energy flows where the attention goes. While having food, it is
important that we focus on the food in front of us. The more we focus on the
food while eating, the better the flow of energy goes to the eating activity
that we do. Some people have their food by watching TV, mobile, listening to
songs or by chatting with their friends. This may not be a good practice as
their attention is getting diverted to different things. The flow of energy
here is getting divided into multiple things and so the benefit derived out of
the eating activity is not at the optimum level.
·
Observing a minute of silence before consuming food is a good practice.
As part of certain religious practices, it is advised to perform a short prayer
before having your food. The advantage of this is numerous. Here we are showing
gratitude to God for our daily bread. God has blessed us with numerous things
in life. Since we are already receiving our daily food on a regular basis, we take it for granted and so we
may not be observing the importance of it. But just keep in mind the 1000s of
people who are going to sleep every night with an empty stomach. Apart from
Gratitude, waiting for 1-2 minutes before having our food also triggers the
salivary glands. The body becomes better prepared for the eating process.
·
Repeatedly chewing your food multiple times is also important
to break down your food into small particles and make your digestion process
very easy. Some people in a hurry, gobble up their food and complete their meal
quickly to take up some other urgent work. This is not a healthy practice as
the load to the digestive system is high in this case. As far as possible we
need to try to reduce the load applied to the digestive system by chewing our
food properly for better efficiency.
·
Think positively while having your food. As far as possible try not to
invite feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, regret, etc while eating. There is a
chance that the energy that you vibrate with at that point in time can get
transferred to the food you eat. Try to be mindful of your thoughts during this
time and avoid any kind of negative thoughts and emotions.
·
Try to be mindful of the food that you eat. Yes, once in a while you can
have food that addresses your taste buds. However, in normal times, make sure
that your food is a balanced one with all the essential nutrients. Also, make
sure that you have food that is suitable for your gut microbiome. Certain
fermented foods, postbiotics, and prebiotics are required in your diet
frequently.
·
Make sure that there is a gap of atleast 2 hours after your dinner and
before you sleep. This ensures that the food you had taken gets digested to an
extent. This also ensures that while sleeping, the energy of our body would be
used in a better way for the overall healing and repair mechanisms of the
cells, tissues, organs, and the body and not just for the digestion activities.
·
Make sure that you drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. Always try to
include fruits and vegetables in your diet as these are storehouses of
micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. Even though these micronutrients are
needed only in a small quantity every day, it is important that we don't miss on
them. Just having more carbohydrates and proteins alone is not enough.
·
Intermittent fasting of once every week is good enough to remove the
unwanted fats and cells from our body. It also helps to flush out the toxins
from our bodies.
· Complement your healthy food intake with daily exercises. This improves your health by many times. Holistic practices complement each other and help to bring about results at a faster pace. Apart from Exercises, Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, Mindfulness can also be included in your daily routine. This helps you to balance your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being and thereby help you to lead a holistic life.
Always remember that healthy food leads to a healthy body and a healthy mind. Let us enjoy the process of having good food and live a life of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment. As we live our lives with happiness and peace, let us also take a moment to remember the poor and the needy and do whatever we can to extend our help and services to them.
