I’m currently enjoying a meal for lunch, and I want to demonstrate how to eat mindfully. My simple lunch consists of a salad, some fruits, carbonated water, and a bit of Italian dressing on the side. I’ve also included a turkey sandwich and some leftover coffee from this morning.

While I was eating the salad, I noticed the moist, water-filled texture of each lettuce leaf. With each bite, despite not visibly seeing water ooze out, the crunch makes it evident that each leaf is filled with water. The texture and the sound of its crunchiness enhance the overall flavor.

Then there are the small tomatoes. You can either bite into them or pop the whole fruit into your mouth. As you do so, you’ll experience a burst of flavor – almost like a small explosion as the juice disperses throughout your mouth.

Complementing these with a bite of cheese introduces a different texture. It’s solid, slightly chewy, and satisfies a different set of taste buds.

Then comes the whole peas, a complete contrast with their intense crunchiness and unexpected sweetness. The raw peas with their outer shell might not seem sweet initially, but as you put it in your mouth, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the sweetness hitting your taste buds.

Following the peas, a bite of onion introduces a starkly different flavor profile. It carries a tart taste, and you may feel as though some air escapes through your nose when you bite into it – a sensation that can be quite enjoyable.

Pouring some Italian dressing over the lettuce changes its flavor completely. Now, the lettuce is not just plain, but accompanied by the dressing. The saltiness of the dressing and its creaminess, with a hint of mint, make it a delightful addition.

Switching from the salad to the fruits, I have raspberries and blackberries, both rich in antioxidants. Biting into a blackberry releases a burst of juice. The aim is to chew it just enough to savor everything but the seeds. Complementing this with a raspberry introduces a slight tartness, yet it remains sweet, a bit less than the blackberry, but still pleasantly so.

In this process of activating different areas of your taste buds, take a sip of carbonated water. In my case, my water has lost some of its fizz, but a sip still helps in settling down the food before returning to it.

Moving on to the turkey sandwich, I’ve left out the bread. It’s simply ready-made turkey with tomato, lettuce, and cheese – likely American cheese. When you bite into this, the flavors are intense. The turkey, being processed, carries a robust taste – a mix of turkey and other unknown ingredients. This combination creates a very addictive taste, making you want to go back for another bite.

Returning from the artificially flavored sandwich to the lettuce can make the lettuce seem bland, as you’ve already stimulated your taste buds with more potent flavors. To balance this, I pour more dressing on my salad. The dressing, being processed, offers a more intense taste than the salad.

I then return to eating my fruits, allowing my taste buds to reacclimate to their natural state. Although the berries are natural, they carry a strong taste, certainly more so than plain lettuce.

In the end, I am left with just one small tomato, which I will finish with a ‘tomato explosion’ followed by a bite of the turkey sandwich and finally, a raspberry and blackberry.

The simple act of mindfully eating a meal can offer so much joy. It helps you appreciate the food, be grateful for nature’s bounty, and the ability to experience and enjoy different types of food that stimulate various taste buds, from mild to strong, from less crunchy to more crunchy, and from less sweet or salty to more so.

If I had chosen to eat the same meal while being distracted by electronics or a screen, I would miss out on all of this. I wouldn’t be conscious of what I’m eating, let alone experiencing the intricacies of different foods, their combinations, and how they affect me. Being mindful about your eating allows you to appreciate all these aspects.

By not being present and mindful, we not only fail to appreciate these details, but we also tend to eat at a faster pace. Once we start consuming high bliss-point, processed foods, we tend to stick to it and overlook natural foods. We’ve tricked ourselves into a cycle of continuously consuming high bliss-point foods, and it’s a slippery slope.

When we eat without consciousness, we are not appreciative. We rush food down to our stomachs, which is not healthy for our digestion. Moreover, we end up eating more because it takes approximately 20 minutes for our hormones to send a signal to our brain that we’re full. By the time this signal arrives, we’ve already consumed more than necessary.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we eat slowly. Even if you put aside the benefits of mindfulness, just by eating slowly, we consume less. This, by itself, is a significant benefit, apart from the others, of mindful eating. It teaches us to slow down, appreciate our food, and pay attention to the sensations it provides us. Mindful eating is a simple practice that can profoundly enhance our relationship with food and our overall health.