My New Favorite Meal

Many religions and people, for several different reasons, take up fasting. It is the way a person restricts their diet as a sacrifice or meditation. I recently went through one and I was able to experience a very intriguing aftermath. I had eaten only bread and water for two days and felt incredibly refreshed! I had about 6 slices of bread and drank 3-4 bottles of water a day and felt fine and rarely felt any pangs of hunger (surprisingly). The sole purpose of food was for survival. Yet, once the fast had ended and I had my first bite of an oatmeal cookie that also had chocolate chip pieces in it, I immediately wanted another one and also felt the pangs of hunger hit me continuously through out the day.

A few of my classmates have mentioned to me how they are always hungry at school. I'm not too clear why, but the fact that I felt the urge to eat more and more after taking my first bite of this Chips Ahoy cookie that had more than 10 ingredients in its label, led me to acknowledge the importance of understanding what hunger truly means. The fasting was a psychological experiment. The less choices I had, the less I ate. Food no longer was exciting or a source of entertainment; it was solely for energy and survival. Yet, once there were more choices, more tastes, more flavors, and ingredients, hunger become more than a necessity. It became an addiction to the stimulation from the food.

Wendell Berry stated, "...eating is an agricultural act.", a cycle of energy, and source of life. The transformation of humanity from members of this cycle into its dictating consumer shifts the purpose of food. People in developed communities such as ours, eat for fun. Our bodies have somehow adapted to all the different choices we have and now survives and dependence on the variety of flavors, textures and servings we experience per day.

Have you tried to fast before? It's a pretty interesting experiment :)

Do you appreciate all the choices you have, or would you rather have it plain and simple and why?