Many people use a spoon to eat and do not want to eat with their hands. Apart from the difference in method, the two habits also affect health differently.

According to a report in the Indian outlet Anandabazar, eating with a spoon brings no particular benefit or harm, although some metal spoons can react when they come into contact with very sour food. Beyond that, there is no special advantage or disadvantage to eating with a spoon. But eating with the hands has some benefits:

• Better blood circulation: mixing food by hand means moving the fingers. It may seem to be work for the fingers alone, but doctors say that mixing food with the fingers increases blood flow not only in that hand but in a large part of the body.
• Smaller portions: eating with the hands takes longer than eating with a spoon, so people eat comparatively less, reducing the risk of weight gain.
• Easier digestion: first, eating with the hands gives more time to chew, so food is digested better. Second, the hands carry some bacteria that help digest food, a benefit you do not get with a spoon.
• Lower risk of diabetes: statistics show that people who eat with their hands have a comparatively lower risk of type 2 diabetes. A study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition found that people with type 2 diabetes eat quickly, while eating with the hands forces you to eat slowly, reducing the tendency towards type 2 diabetes.

Source: Samakal. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.