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Everybody is conscious of healthy eating nowadays. We pay close attention to all available healthy dietary items. Counting calories and the nutritious value of every food product is a new norm with advancements in technology. Not only the right amount and nutrient-rich food is of our utmost priority, but our sitting position while we eat is equally important.
Let’s find out more about the appropriate posture for eating.
Best posture while eating
The eating position influences the digestion of food. In many Indian houses, families prefer to sit on the floor to eat their meals. Today, most of us have a more sedentary lifestyle, which affects our overall health and wellness. Many people prefer to eat in front of the T.V., on the bed, or at a table and chair. We feel this is more comfortable and relaxing, but it has many detrimental effects on your health. Some prefer standing while eating, although it aids in digestion but may cause overeating.
Our elderlies always encourage us to sit properly with crossed legs while eating for better digestion. It is the right way to eat food. When you eat your meal while lying down, it will slow digestion. On the other hand consuming food while standing leads to faster digestion and movement of food, which results in early emptying of food and overeating. So the best posture is sitting and eating.
Why sitting while eating is healthy?
Sitting on the floor with crossed legs has an Ayurveda explanation for better digestion. According to the Ayurveda, the Sukhasana or the half padmasana aids digestion. According to this pose, when we sit on the floor with crisscrossed legs and take a bite from the plate placed on the floor, we have to bend forward and go back to starting position to swallow. This constant back and forth movement engages our stomach muscles and encourages the motion of our food in the digestive tract. The sukhasana pose forces us to sit straight while eating and impacts our hips and ankle.
Benefits of sitting while eating
Sitting not only aids in better digestion, but it also has various health benefits, including:
Improves posture: When we sit in Sukhasana pose on the floor, our posture is automatically corrected, giving us a straight back, lengthening the spine, and pushing the shoulder back. Improper posture is the root cause of all aches and muscle pain. Good posture reduces unnecessary strain on muscles and joints and prevents injury and premature wear and tear of joints.
Keeps knees, hips, and ankle joints healthy: Sukhasana and padmasana possess many health benefits other than better digestion. They keep joints flexible, increase joint lubrication, and decrease the risk of many joint-degenerative diseases, such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Improvement in joint health is because of constant bending of the knees, hip joint, and ankles.
Improves heart health: Proper blood circulation is the crucial element of digestion. While eating, our heart had to work more to help digestion. When we sit on the floor, our heart can efficiently pump blood to all the organs for digestion. If we sit on a chair during eating, the most pumped blood circulates to the legs, and less blood flow to the digestive organs for the digestion process. So, the heart had to do overwork to meet the organ’s blood circulation requirements. Therefore, sitting on the floor and eating aids a healthy heart.
Relaxes our mind: The Padmasana and Sukhasana pose help clear and relax our mind and alleviate stress. Eating with a calm mind further helps in better digestion.
Reduces menstruation pain and cramps: The Sukhasana and padmasana pose to relax the abdominal and pelvic area muscles, which helps reduce pain and cramps during the menstruation period. It also strengthens the pelvis and increases its elasticity, which reduces the risk of menstruation cramps.
Eases delivery: Sitting on the floor strengthens the pelvic muscles and bones. It helps bear the pain and uterus contraction during childbirth.
Sitting on the floor and eating food with family helps strengthen the bond between family members, as the Sukhasana pose causes calmness in mind, which leads to more concentrated communication.
Sitting on the floor while concentrating only on food helps accept the taste and quantity of food, which leads to better nutritional gain and good health.
The best way to eat the food is to sit with the crisscrossed legs that engage our core muscles. It also improves digestion and helps resolve various digestive issues.
So let’s sit and enjoy our meal.
