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I read an article years ago that talked about reasons why Westerners, or those cultures adapting to Western diets, have more problems with obesity than other cultures. One of the theories had to do with not only the overabundance of food in wealthier cultures but the wide diversity of available food choices.
If you were to eat the same few foods day in day out for a season (which is more likely to happen if you are growing your own foods or living in a less wealthy or industrially developed culture), your palate would become bored and you'd likely start to eat less. You'd be eating to live instead of living to eat.
It makes sense. If you couldn't go to your local supermarket and roam the aisles of the produce section or consider the array of prepared foods or choose a different restaurant every night, food would become boring.
Or would it? Sonia Masocco brought my attention to an interesting article by Dr. Bill Dean who says, "To say that always having the same foods all the time is boring is simply (the product of) an agitated mind." When our minds are over-stimulated or anxiety-ridden--as is often the case in modern life--too many choices of food (or anything) creates even more stress. It's why we turn to "comfort foods".
When you eat the same things repeatedly and food becomes boring or monotonous, two interesting things can happen:
· your anxiety levels lower, and
· you're likely eat less food which benefits those who need to lose weight.
Ayurvedically, elevated vata is the underlying cause of anxiety and having a routine is one of the best ways to calm the over-stimulation of vata. Elevated vata can lead to elevated kapha (vata pushing kapha) which is often the case of anxious over-eaters. Eating at the same time every day and/or eating the same foods every day can dramatically calm over- active minds and bodies that can't seem to slow down. This same mechanism also helps anxious over-eaters to feel nourished and calm, the result of which makes them feel satisfied with less food.
Try it out and see for yourself!
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