Some highlights and benefits of eating with your hands, according to Ayurveda.
Eating with our hands has numerous and surprising health benefits. The ancient science of Ayurveda advocates eating with our bare hands and fingers.
The millions of tiny nerve endings on your fingers relay the message to your brain and digestive system about the temperature of your food, the level of spiciness, the nature of the food, and the texture. With increased sensory organs at work, you are more conscious of the amount and type of food that you intake. Eating food with hands helps the stomach release digestive enzymes and juices for better digestion.
Hands are an extension of the five elements
According to ancient science of Ayurveda, our five fingers are like the five elements:
The thumb represents Agni (fire),
The index finger Varun (air),
The middle finger Akash (sky/space),
The ring finger Prithvi (Earth), and
The little finger Jal (water).
The cause of disease is the imbalance of any one or more of these elements. While eating with our hands, we join our fingers and thumb; this is an example of a mudra (finger alignment). Therefore eating with our hands balances our basic elements (vital life energy) and mudras impart healing powers on our body. Hands are the center of tactile sensations, processed by the brain. So, when you eat with your fingers, you stimulate these five elements and prepare yourself for the intake of food, and the subsequent process of digestion.
Mindful eating to avoid overeating
Eating with your hands is a powerful part of mindful eating, that is engaging with every aspect of your food, through all of your senses, touch and sight as well as taste and smell. When you eat mindfully, you digest better. This ensures that you eat only as much as your appetite demands. Along with smaller portions, eating with your fingers also helps you eat slower. And hence, avoids overeating.
Improve gut health
There are some bacteria, known as normal flora found on the palm and fingers of the hand. It is not harmful to humans, in fact it protects us from many harmful microbes in the environment. The flora on the fingers is swallowed while eating with the hands and thus improves gut health.
gathered research from multiple sources and heavily edited my me for best concise communication.
