Many of us have heard the phrase "we eat with our eyes", but until recently I wasn't aware of why. That's what I want to share with you today. When I found out, I was inspired to let you in on the secret and pair it with some tips and tricks to try out.
Making food look more appealing can come in handy for a number of reasons: convincing children to eat (I hear that can be tricky) convincing adults to try new foods (they are SO stubborn), becoming an instagram influencer (always grammin'), and most importantly, supporting your own happiness (time to party!). Eating is a form of self care in my opinion, so why not make it better self care?
I'm currently taking the class 'Physiological Psychology' which highlights that our brains and our bodies are one. It's important to know how the body functions at a basic level, because our brain not only responds to our body's signals, it is trained to use them. I can share two personal stories which highlight the importance of this insight. First, recently I was prescribed anti-histamines to help with my anxiety because I was describing symptoms of always being on alert - like 'there's a tiger in my shower' alert, but, spoiler alert, there was no tiger. (Can you find the tiger in the picture though?) This was especially hard for me at night. I would hear a sound, any sound, and it felt like I was getting injected with adrenaline. When I felt the panic, my thoughts would race around what kind of emergency there was. It would take hours for me to calm myself down, and the next day I would feel anxious and depressed. In that scenario my body was freaking out first, and my brain was taking the signals and trying to make sense of them. By taking antihistamines, in other words, something to calm my body down, I was able to feel better because I could manage my thoughts better without the stress of my body. Second, when I was a teenager I was bulimic. The number one thing I believed was that I was crazy, because I never got full when other people did, then I'd keep eating and feel sick. I kept asking myself, what's wrong with me? My therapist at the time explained to me that repeated forced vomiting could affect how my body reports signals of being full back to my brain. In other words, I was not crazy. In fact, I was hopeful. I could work on retraining my body by being kind to myself and listening. In this scenario, both my body and my mind had to heal together, which they have.
This brings me back to food overall. Why do we eat with our eyes? Eyes. Yes, those things that sit above your nose and below your forehead. Did you ever consider that your eyes don't think? Your eyes only do their job of seeing, then they send the signals to your brain. Your brain decodes the information and fires off responses or actions. I learned that some neurons in your brain will fire at the colors you see, some will fire at the composition of the plate, some will fire at memories associated with those colors and compositions. That is a TON of processing to do within the milliseconds of decision time, or even within the three seconds of evaluation time you go through when a server puts a hot plate in front of you at a restaurant. What I learned was that our brains evolved to make shortcuts and associations to help us get through all the data we have to process every second. So if you see something unfamiliar, a different color, or a cut of food you didn't know people ate, you could have a number of reactions to that food which ultimately link with other experiences or expectations, but aren't necessarily accurate to what is in front of you. In other words, if you go looking for things you don't like, you'll find them. But if you give yourself an opportunity to like something, you just might.
Why? We can use the shortcuts to your advantage. Here are a few examples and tips for ways you can leverage your eyes and brain to zhuzh up your food.
I watched Chef's Table last night and Dario Cecchini was the chef. He made a name for himself by showing how you can use every part of the cow, all the gifts it gives, with flavor and presentation. The one that caught my eye *ha* was that he used hooves, snouts, and more to make salami! Reframed food = more open to tasting.
My mom is a chef and she always, ALWAYS talks about presentation. She often will cut things at a different angle so that it looks more interesting than you would normally see. Here I made a video for carrots. So simple, and yet, I can feel you wanting to roast them or make a salad to try it out. I salute you!
Get sneaky. You can hide things behind something else you love. For example, do you love meatloaf? Cool! Blend some vegetables down and mix them in. You know who won't know the difference? Everyone else. You know who will win the vitamins game for that day? You. Pass the ketchup!
I hope this was interesting and gave you some inspiration to play around with the aesthetics of your food. Let me know if you have any favorite tips or tricks I can try too! Muah!
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