The Right Way to Eat

An easy, free way to improve your digestion and be more mindful with your food

For longer than humans have been recording history, we’ve used our hands to eat our food. From everything to the meat of animals we killed to the berries we foraged, there really wasn’t a need to use anything else. 

Sure, spoons and knives were used by early man as far back as the Paleolithic area (spoons are Paleo, bro), but that doesn’t mean they were super common. If anything, it was more knives that were commonplace as a weapon that doubled as a tool for cutting through meat.

The more common use of eating utensils is a relatively new phenomenon when looking at the grand scheme of things. For example, evidence of chopsticks was found in China dating back to around 1200 B.C. While in ancient Egyptian tombs, ceremonial spoons from about 1000 B.C. have also been discovered. 

Newer still, forks didn't even become a thing until around the 1500s in Europe, though some argue they may have shown up as early as the 1100s. 

Even then, utensils were seen as unnecessary and as an extreme luxury reserved for the elite of society. It wasn’t until the early 1900s, when stainless steel was invented, that cutlery became more commonplace for everyone else. 

It might be hard to believe, but to this day, it’s really only in Western nations where eating with a fork and spoon for every meal is the norm. In countless countries and cultures worldwide, it is still seen as more proper to eat with your hands than a piece of metal.

Modern-day examples around the world

When I was a kid, I read a book called “A Spoon for Every Bite”, where a wealthy man heard of a person in a town over who could afford to eat every bite of food with a brand new spoon. In an effort to prove how wealthy the main character was, he began to do this, even to the point of bankrupting himself.

It was then that he finally demanded to meet this man who “ate with a different spoon for every bite of food he ate”. He was shocked when he was taken to a small, poor village where he then met the person that he was competing with. Turns out, it was an old man of Hispanic descent who didn’t have much, but could indeed afford a different spoon for every bite - that spoon was a tortilla.

It’s funny to think about this, as I myself am Mexican and I remember as a kid, MOST meals had 2-3 tortillas on the side. There was hardly anything that I needed a spoon for. It’s not that we couldn’t afford spoons, we just didn’t need them. Why would we? We had some perfectly good tortillas to transport food into our mouths.

Mexican culture today is still very much like this. Obviously, you have the taco and burrito, but most classic Mexican (or any Hispanic) dishes can be, or should be eaten with a tortilla.

And it’s not just Mexican food! Most cultures have some kind of bread that is used as a vehicle to transport food from your plate to your mouth.

Hispanic cultures have tortillas.

Indians have naan.

Greeks have pita.

Ethiopians have injera.

The list goes on and on and on.

And of course, we can’t leave out the classics of American cuisine like sandwiches and pizza (pizza is American, right?).

We also have non-bread items that are still classically eaten with our hands such as meats and cheeses from charcuterie boards and fruit.

The point is, there are still a lot of things we eat today that are simply not made for utensils. So, what are the benefits of eating with your hands, other than just being more fun?

Benefits of eating with your hands

It turns out that eating with your hands can be traced back to Ayurvedic teachings. For those that don’t know, Ayurveda is an ancient medicinal practice based on the Hindu religion that prioritizes "a balance between the body, mind, spirit, and the environment".

According to Ayurveda, the five elements that make up the world also combine to form each individual's dosha. A dosha is one’s blueprint that describes their unique personality, tendencies, and physical nature.

It turns out that in the Ayurvedic teachings, each finger corresponds to a different element of your dosha, so when you connect with your food using your hands as opposed to a utensil, you are connecting with that food on a whole other level.

If you aren’t into all that, you can still conclude that eating with your hands promotes more mindfulness and connection to what you are eating. This is because it forces you to slow down the entire process and be present with your food.

Eating with your hands can also improve your digestion. Once we touch food, the brain signals our stomach that we are ready to eat. This helps the stomach to get ready and prepare itself for the food. 

This combination of slowing down in addition to preparing your whole body for the consumption of food can also prevent overeating. Think about it - when you haven’t eaten all day and you finally sit down in front of a delicious meal, you are more prone to shovel it into your mouth with your spoon. Eating too fast doesn’t give your stomach time to send a signal to your brain that you’re actually full and should probably stop.

Maddie and I do this all the time actually - we make such delicious food that we eat it so fast because it’s so dang good. We usually look at each other as we debate going in for seconds knowing that if we wait 5-10 minutes we will probably begin to feel how full we already are.

I dare you to try eating at the same speed when you can only pick up a tiny bit of food with your fingers compared to a large spoon! You probably can’t.

Rules of eating with your hands

Most cultures follow roughly the same rules when eating with their hands:

1. Wash your hands - don’t be nasty :)

2. Use your thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger to pick up the bite of food. Typically, you don’t let the food touch your palm.

3. If using bread such as a tortilla or naan for example, you rip off a small piece and use the same 3-finger method to grab whatever you want to take a bite out of.

4. Have fun! Who are you trying to impress being super formal and such? Try eating with your hands during your next meal and see if you notice a difference in how it slows you down, how full you feel, and how much more you connect with your food!

Take Action: Sure, there are probably some times when it won’t be appropriate to eat certain foods with your hands. But when you’re in your own home, try it out! Maybe use this newsletter as a good excuse to try out a new recipe for tortillas, naan, or injera and an accompanying dish.

After eating at a Moroccan restaurant a few weeks ago, it’s on Maddie and I’s list to try out a lamb tagine recipe!

-Sebastian