Food is connected with taste as well as health. But, we can derive pleasure from taste only if we are healthy. The moment we fall ill, the sense of taste also gets bad, and we stop enjoying the taste of food that we otherwise relish. In such a situation, it becomes necessary to abstain from eating tasty food; a simple, bland food is prescribed. Till the time health is regained, it becomes essential to abstain from eating several types of food. If we do not follow the discipline in eating, it becomes difficult to recover health – and this is a shared experience. As a result, people, often unwillingly, have to force themselves to eat only bland food to ensure their health does not get worse.
Why simple food is prescribed when we fall ill? This is because simple food gets easily digested, and then as the state of health improves, both the sense of taste and functioning of digestive glands recover as well.
Experts say that if the taste buds are given food that is low in taste, they gradually begin to find the taste that too. This happens because their capability to extract taste starts increasing. On the other hand, if taste buds are constantly exposed to tasty and spicy food, they gradually experience less taste even in such food and begin to demand even more spicy and piquant food. Excess of spices and chilly in food gradually reduce the natural sensitivity to taste. The taste buds on the tongue lose their ability to derive taste in plain food, and the tastier and spicier food also appears bland to them. Excess of spicy and piquant foods distort the sense of taste. Oily, spicy food with extra chilly becomes a need for taste buds, even though such food badly affects the digestive system, inviting several diseases to the body.
This is similar to the situation where people apply a lot of perfume all the time. As a result, their nose becomes habituated to strong fragrances. So they become insensitive to simple fragrances. Likewise, people who eat simple food experience taste in the same, but others who get used to eating only spicy food cannot experience taste in regular food. However, on falling ill and being forced to eat simple food, their sense of taste gradually improves, and so does the sensitivity of their taste buds.
Though all three aspects are essential, the most important is, of course, the taste, because the foremost connection of food is with its taste. Bland food can be eaten, but food with spoilt taste cannot be. The desirability of food has two elements, its aroma and its flavor. The smell of food itself gives the first indication of its taste, and then actually tasting it confirms its flavor. As the aroma of food spreads in the surroundings, the food advertises itself and invites and attracts people around to come and consume it.
Along with aroma and flavor, it is also vital that the food be good for our health. Tasteful food that is not good for health should not be eaten. Only the food that furthers good health should be taken. This is why we willingly eat bitter-tasting medicines and syrups because we know they will rid us of diseases. Along with flavor, aroma, and health, the presentation of food enhances its attractiveness and desirability. This is why all fine dining restaurants decorate and garnish their dishes and present them very attractively. The presentation of the food is undoubtedly an art.
A rule of thumb about eating is – we should drink our food and eat our drinks, meaning that food that needs chewing should be chewed so much that it becomes almost liquid as it goes in, whereas eating the drinks means that drinks should stay in the mouth long enough to allow saliva to mix in well.
Usually, people eat in a hurry and gulp drinks also in a hurry. As a result, saliva does not mix appropriately in our chewed food and drinks, so our food does not digest well. Even if it gets digested, it does not assimilate into the body properly and does not benefit us enough. Salivary juices play a crucial role in the process of digestion. When food is chewed well, a sufficient quantity of saliva mixes with the food. The chemical process between food and saliva transforms the food completely and makes it easily digestible. The food then benefits our body like medicine and makes it strong and healthy.
Food has to be eaten in reasonable amounts. Eating excess food puts pressure on the digestive system. The body has to spend a lot of energy to digest the food, which reduces the benefit of eating. On the other hand,if food is eaten in moderate amounts and chewed well before ingesting, it digests well without much effort. The nutrients in the food also assimilate very well in the body, which helps keep the body healthy and free from diseases. Thus, what we eat, and drink should be such that it improves our health and maintains and strengthens our sense of taste.
Source
– Akhandjyoti Sept.Oct -2021