The other day, while reading an article in a magazine, I came across a party advertisement that read “Bring your appetite and leave your tight pants at home”. That advertisement piqued my interest and inspired me to write this piece. Why do we eat food? What is the purpose? We eat food to survive and to gain energy that helps us undertake our varied responsibilities. Our bodies are akin to vehicles which cannot function unless they have fuel in their tanks. Food is our fuel, so we cannot function without it. However, our body tank (the stomach) is dissimilar to vehicle tanks, for the stomach is expandable but vehicle tanks are not. They overflow.
On the other hand, the more we eat, the more our stomach expands adding to its capacity little by little. For example, if you can eat only a quarter of spaghetti, you can train yourself to eat a half-kilo, then a kilo, and so on. The stomach is an elastic container, and its capacity depends on how it is stretched. By stretching it and putting more food in it, we can gradually gain weight until things go out of hand. And that is when obesity kicks in, bringing about health issues. Consuming excessive amounts of food is the culprit behind every health issue. Eating too much food is morbid; it is unhealthy.
Unhealthy eating habits can be tamed. Consuming food frequently is an unhealthy habit, although good food paired with good beverages is the joy of the self. As some studies recommend, aiming for three balanced meals and 1-3 snacks per day is a common recommendation. Nonetheless, that recommendation might not work for all of us even if we can financially afford to do so. Some bodies can process and burn energy quickly, while others cannot do so. It depends on the individual person’s digestive system. And here is where obesity manifests itself. “Obesity primarily results from an imbalance between energy intake (calories consumed) and energy expenditure (calories burned), with excess energy stored as fat.”
The best practice is to eat in moderation (I’m not pretending to be a dietitian or anything, but I think that is a good practice to be adopted.) The best food is the one we eat when we are starving. We relish it. Consider eating the most delicious food when you are not hungry. It is bland and tasteless. This below-mentioned saying (although unauthentic) is attributed to Prophet Mohammed, the best teacher the human race has ever seen. “We are a people who do not eat until we are hungry; and when we eat, we do not eat to our fill.” The saying sums up the ideal eating habits.