More fast food kills faster

So much is written about how damaging fast food can be to our health. But, I want to specify ways food can hurt us when it enables us to eat fast. Or better, ways food prevents hurting us by forcing us to eat slower.

These are the ‘creative’ ways in which natural foods slow down digestion:

● Fiber. Stuff that cannot be broken down to absorb in the body. Fiber give the muscles of our intestines the workout they need. But they do more. Enzymes need to fish around the fiber to find the nutrients. Put whole grapes in a blender. The skins make the mixture more look like a porridge than a (grape) juice and have good stuff in them for the body. It takes longer to digest a slice of whole-wheat bread than a white one.

That means that everything that can race through your digestive tract is suspect of overloading the blood with stuff we don’t need (sugar, alcohol). This is not to be confused with poison that artificially speeds up a normal-food passage and so hinders proper uptake of its ingredients.

● Chewing. The just mentioned fiber often forces us to chew. A teacher of mine in Med School joked that it takes more calories to chew celery than are in it. But, something else happens when we need to chew. We have more time to taste (and hopefully enjoy) the food. And we get a sense of satisfaction from the chowing. That, too, prevents overeating. Mindless eating doesn’t satisfy as much. If you’re not a hippopotamus, that is.

That means that stuff you gulp away doesn’t give much satisfaction before we swallow it, and leaves our intestines empty in no time. That’s great for manufacturers aiming to sell as much as possible but not for our bodies.

● Peels and Pits. Coconuts and peanuts need peeling. But, even foodstuff we need to cook, often, we need to peel. The outer layer of a beet is toxic. And so are the roots or root beginnings of a potato. Peeling a pomelo takes longer than eating it. Natural citrus fruit, grapes, or pomegranates have so many pits that eating them without swallowing their pits takes so much longer. Even the pit of the avocado prevents us from swallowing it all in one gulp. Looking at food while peeling it, in happy anticipation, also helps us being satisfied with what we will eat soon.

That means that foods that come ready-made may satisfy us less, make us eat more, and, again, this is great for the seller but less for the consumer.

● Natural Tastes. Nature and agriculture offer us such an assortment of tastes. When we savor them, we will eat slowly. Ever spend time relishing the aroma of a simple cucumber, leaf of lattice, or apple? What’s the rush?

That means that we’ll be likely to stuff ourselves when we put salt, burned onions, garlic, sugar, and hot spices on every food. They’ll give their taste to tasteless white junk (white rice, flour, meat, sugar) But, these things harm our health when eaten in any serious amounts, make us addicted, and camouflage the subtle, rich tastes of real food. Now, even the peanuts that go into natural peanut butter are burned as if they’re steaks or coffee beans instead of lightly roasted. Disgusting! Artificial and unifying flavoring takes the fun out of eating, and the savoring, and makes us rush for our fix.

So, if we want to support our health and enjoy our meals, while we eat and for hours afterward, we can do ourselves a favor by having food that is rich in fiber, needs chewing, may need some fiddling, and is naturally tasty.

It’s easy to do this by diverting from popular priority. Not just picking food we like. Only look at worthy foods. Among them, pick what tastes best.

And, if you’d say: I don’t have time to sit at the table forever, there is good news. When we pay attention to what we eat, and the food is as I described above, we’re satisfied faster (and longer) and meals will last the shortest.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1