We live in a world of plenty, with more than enough food to choose from. While choosing what to eat, there are various factors that we consider such as health concerns, convenience, cost, variety etc., but the two main factors that we consider while choosing the food are personal taste and quantity of the food.
The main reason we choose a particular food is because we like the way it tastes. We don’t eat Dosa because they are rich in carbohydrates, we eat them because we love the taste of Dosas. As we incline more towards the taste of food, we have set aside certain food that always stay as our favourite item. It is human nature that we frequently eat those food items that we love the most and rarely eat food items that we dislike.
Taste & Flavour:
Before going any further, all of us must first understand that the terms taste and flavour are not the same. Taste happens only inside our mouths. It focuses primarily on sweet, salt, bitter and sour. Flavour is the fulfilling experience of taste and aroma together with sensing the texture of some foods. Flavour is more important to a chef than taste but on the other hand for consumers, taste is very important.
Factors affecting Taste:
Though The ‘taste of food’ plays an important role in food choice. Not everyone perceives the taste of food the same way as others. Different people like different tastes and this difference could be due to various reasons such as age of the taster, Variety in available food choices, aroma of the food, the time of day it is eaten, degree of hunger of the taster, etc.
Taste diminishes:
Every time we start eating and the taste of the food is so enjoyable, we just keep eating thinking, "This tastes great!" After a while we no longer taste the food but since it tasted wonderful at the start we continue eating. We eat to the point of being uncomfortable and never realize that long-ago we actually stopped enjoying the taste. This is why Even favourite foods consumed every day for a while can lose their appeal and this can be seen when the “taste” and appetite for a food eaten day after day starts to diminish.
Healthy food & Tasty food:
There is always a question in mind that asks Why is it that the foods which are very tasty to eat, are always not healthy, and foods which are healthy, never taste good?
Honestly, there is a misconception that Healthy food cannot taste good. Healthy food can also taste good when the right ingredients and spices are used to prepare the dish. While thinking whether taste can be quantified, it is technically not possible to quantify taste.
We can easily quantify the food that we eat and there is a general principle that defines what quantities of food that we must eat during a day. It is ideal to follow the old saying: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar”.
Why should breakfast be heavy?
Breakfast is the most imperative meal of the day. Breakfast mainly provides the energy to start the day and improves learning, memory and concentration. Breakfast is important because it precedes the longer period of starvation during our sleep.
Why should lunch be moderate?
Eating moderate, well balanced lunch provides the energy to feel good during the afternoon.
It is better not to have a heavy meal as you would have already received much needed nutrients from breakfast and also a heavy lunch might make your drowsier.
Why should dinner be light?
As dinner is the meal right before sleep, it is best if it is light to avoid discomfort during bed time. Eating light few hours before night time allows our stomach to digest food properly. Thus, ending the day with light and healthy dinner is always a good idea.
Another matter that we can notice is that if we continue to eat after your stomach is full, it can stretch, similar to a balloon, to make room for the additional food. Chances are, you’ll feel discomfort if your stomach is stretched beyond its normal volume. Although your stomach will typically return to its regular size once it digests the food, your stomach will expand more easily if you overeat on a consistent basis and thus it is important to check the quantity of food we eat every day.
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