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Did you know that enjoying the food you eat is not only good for you, but also important? The health benefits of food may go beyond the vitamins and nutrients it provides. In fact, the pleasure derived from eating, also known as “Vitamin P,” plays a vital role both for your physical and psychological health.
Humans are biologically wired to get pleasure from the foods they eat, and it’s the pleasure itself which provides perks, according to Healthline. In some instances, getting enough “vitamin P,” aka pleasure, is just as important as the food choices you make. The question is, why?
How to Enjoy Your Food
Food is nourishment and is what keeps you alive. The delight you can get from dining is important for other reasons as well. Life would be pretty boring if you just ate bland meals purely for nutrition. The varieties of tastes, flavors, and textures to be experienced through every bite of your food are good for your psychological and physical health.
Canada’s Food Guide explains that one of the reasons it is important to enjoy what you eat is that it helps create a healthy attitude toward food. Some of the ways they recommend enjoying your food are through creating a positive eating environment, which can be done by eating your meals with others, making the area where you eat aesthetically pleasing, and turning on music you enjoy in the background.
You can also start the process of enjoying your food way before mealtime. Having a fun and relaxing grocery shopping experience where you pick out ingredients for meals you are excited about is a great way to start. You might even go an extra few steps and choose to grow and harvest some of your own foods. Involving others in meal planning and preparation can also be fun, while involving others in cleanup can also contribute to joy from the experience. All of these things can boost the pleasure you feel from your food.
The Psychological Benefits of Enjoying Your Food
When you feel pleasure from eating or any other rewarding activity, dopamine is released. According to a 2011 study in the National Library of Medicine, this process may explain why people with obesity might overeat. If they don’t feel enough reward from eating, it might cause them to keep eating, in an attempt to reach the desired pleasure.
However, the transmission of the neurotransmitter through savoring food is significant for another reason. Healthline explains that the dopamine released when eating food we enjoy aids in digesting and metabolizing the food consumed.
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Healthy and nutritious food can be and should be delicious. When you connect with the food you are eating, whether it is a meal that brings you good memories or food that’s from a culture you connect to, it helps lift your spirits and create a sense of belonging. While food can provide comfort at the end of a long day, there’s no need to confuse enjoying your food with emotional eating. Emotional eating is when food is used as a coping mechanism.
Enjoying your food is positive and beneficial, and you can feel proud and healthy when you enjoy it. And while it’s an important part of nutrition and fueling your body, it offers so much more. Embrace your food and mealtimes, enjoy the prep, and have joy and gratitude for the delicious, colorful, and flavorful meals you get to savor every day.
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