Good morning :)
Yesterday I shared with you the history and evolution of bowl meals in America (super fascinating, right?) and how "bowl meals" became my saving grace these last few months.
I also touched on the positive psychological impact eating out of bowls has on us--with promises to dig more into that today :)
THE HIDDEN MAGIC OF BOWL MEALS (real science)
New research has found that you can have the same food in a bowl vs. on a traditional plate and your brain will find the former more satisfying. 🤯
Here’s why:
“That weight in the hand is likely to make your brain think the food is more substantial and you’re likely to rate it as more intensely fragranced and aromatic than for exactly the same food sat passively on a plate” - Professor Charles Spence, Professor of Experimental Psychology and Head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford
The added weight in your hand, coupled with the action of bringing the food physically closer to you, also ramps up satisfaction.
AND GET THIS:
Eating from bowls can help you to feel satiated sooner.
Scientists and researchers are still trying to pinpoint what makes us reach “satiation.”
What we do know for certain is it is a combination of how long we interact with our food, including viewing it and smelling it. When we eat with a bowl, we have more intimacy with our food.
Food that fills out a bowl (rather than scattered across a plate) is also more enjoyable to look at and may help signal satisfaction. Specifically, “deprivation” might become a thought if your portions do not appear abundant.
For me, that is THE selling point on bowl meals. Or, at least, that’s the answer I give people 😉
TBH, it really does swing back the irresistible laziness of bowl meals...
Best of all: Eating out of a bowl can also spark feelings of comfort and nourishment, something most of us seek to have more of in our stressful lives.
In fact, there’s some research out that there if something feels warm in your hand (i.e. a bowl of soup, a cup of tea) the world looks like a better place. This is super (super!) good news for "comfort eaters."
Quick Recap (a.k.a. TOP 10 REASONS YOU SHOULD EAT BOWL MEALS)
Visually pleasing (especially for Instagram posts 😉)
ZERO cooking (or very little)
Quick and EASY
Minimal clean-up (1 bowl, 1 utensil)
Affordable
HEALTHY
Positive impact on your satisfaction (yay science)
Helps avoid "deprivation" and sadness (more science)
Packs well (perfect for work-week lunch)
They’re comforting (yay more science)
A couple of you have asked me for detailed examples of my bowl meals... what EXACTLY I've been making and eating...
I’ll be honest and admit some of these meals are super simple (5 ingredients or less) and several were prepared in the microwave because that was all the “cooking” I could muster.
Of course, I did some “fancier” ones too and by fancy I mean I used extra spices or sauteed a fresh vegetable.
Anyway, I’m going to share with you a couple of my awesome bowl meals tomorrow.
If you want some easy recipes, you definitely don’t want to miss that post!
For TODAY, I have one quick question for you:
How many minutes do you want to spend on dinner most nights?
Answer the poll on Facebook.
(Mostly I want you to validate my laziness LOL)
