Many countries’ habits around eating naturally provoke a full-sensory experience. For instance, Ethiopians elicit the additional sensation of touch on top of sight, taste, and smell as they tear off pieces of injera (a sour flatbread made of the African superfood teff) to scoop up their food.
The more senses you use when you eat, the more joy food can bring you—and research shows it may actually make your food taste better. Additionally, intentionally employing all your senses when you eat gives you an easy (and yummy!) way to practice mindfulness, which has been linked to stress reduction and sustained weight management.
While it’s natural to focus your attention on the taste of food while you eat, put mindfulness into practice by calling your attention to your other senses, too. Try artfully plating your food to call your attention to sight, take a second to smell the various fragrances of your food before taking a bite, or listen to the sound of crunchy greens the next time you eat a salad.