Science and the Reason Behind Eating with Hands

If we observe nature, all the animals and other eat with bare mouth, beaks and hands (legs which act as hands for e.g., monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees) they are healthy and fine. Many a times I have found the fruits that the birds eat and leave or dropped to the ground are much tastier than some of them we pick and eat. That’s because their sixth sense works in tandem with the sensory organs and help them to pick the tasty fruits and berries to eat.

In the same way god has provided two hands for many things to be done out which one is eating, which is one of the vital part of any living being’s daily routine. There are many facts why one should use hands to eat rather than spoon and fork.

• Food I believe is a very personal thing and using hands to eat makes it more intimate and personal and the whole experience is made more worthy the experience.
• Using hands to eat makes it easier to gauge what is there and the temperature of the food so you don’t end burning your mouth.
• Basically, hand can act like spoon or fork or even better than any of them as they are in one’s control and so you don’t require any outside elements to eat food.
• According to Vedic science food is body so eating with hands makes more sense and the process of having food is more ritual we pray and then offer food to other insects by keeping some food outside our plate. Using spoon or fork defeats the whole purpose of having food.

• We get to know the outer world by using smells, sound, visually, touch and taste, so by using hands we are touching the food, smelling the food, touching the food, visually seeing the food and tasting the food, which we are fully involved using all our senses while we are eating. Rather now we are involved watching television, reading a book or pre occupied doing something else other than devoting our concentration on what we are eating.
• Many of our Indian dishes require hand to eat that’s the Idli, Roti, Dosa and Chapathi we tear them and eat them by dipping them in their respective curry / chutney made as a accompaniment.
• It is also said that it improves digestion by eating with hand as the body sends signals and the body is better prepared to digest the food.
• It also helps in eating only as much as you require and helps in avoiding to over eat.
• As many western countries believe that eating by hands is unhygienic, on the contrary we can also say that cutlery used if not cleaned can also be unhygienic to eat. Rather since its our hands we do tend to wash them properly before we sit to eat, its practice in every Indian household till date.
• We as kids when we visit our grandma’s place every summer, we used to have one aunt who sits in the center with a huge vessel of mixed rice, lentils, spices and vegetables that’s cooked – then she rolls a handful of rice into a medium ball (roughly tennis ball size 😊 ) and gives it to the children eagerly sitting around her. They just put it into their mouth and swallow. That’s memorable event and that’s a kind of bonding session for all the cousins and even some elders of the family would sit along and enjoy the whole process. This way of experience of having food is way better than eating on dining table in a mundane and boring process.
• And finally, not the last, it gives one a satisfactory felling after having a tasty and hearty meal. This way of eating can be called mindful and soulful eating, where your all your senses are involved in the process of eating 😊 . Below is an article which gives you a detailed explanation, how the brain responds to touch and other sensation.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140925100404.htm

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