Couple of weeks back, I was playing poker with my buddies. Poker is a newfound fascination, and I must thank  Sumesh for introducing me to this hugely-engrossing game. For, once you start off with poker, there’s actually no turning back. And you’re damned if you’re playing for money; you’d end up being hopelessly-addicted to gambling! So that day, Sumesh, Ashish and I  were indulging ourselves to a game of poker at a Cafe Coffee Day. Half the crowd (if you can term the three-odd distracted couples assembled at perhaps the worlds most-impoverished CCD as a ‘crowd’), was staring at  our blatant act of using CCD for our infamous (and partly-illegal) card-game. We’d ordered coffees and chocolate brownies, but the food was just namesake; our minds had nothing but Poker!

Until the food was served, we were mostly quiet – except for Sumesh’s occasional hyperactive winning-exclamations. After we had stuffed our tummies, our lip-strings loosened, before we could even notice! A normally-quiet-and-pensive Ashish set the ball rolling and soon the two of us joined in the conversation. Within no time, the three of us were so engrossed in tête-à-tête, that we’d almost forgotten the addictive game of poker! The game was still on, but the conversation-bit had a clear edge over the the former. As we conversed, we dug our fingernails (and our teeth) deep into the munchy food, relishing the natter along with the food. Evidently, we needed chocolate brownies and Cafe Mocha, to take our conversations to the next level.

It can rightly be said that Food is the best lubricant for conversation – like alcohol. Many proclaim that alcohol is the ultimate bonding-pill – and it’s actually right. Alcohol loosens your mind’s inhibitions and sets you talking, sometimes to the extent of you revealing your deepest darkest secrets. There’s this college-buddy of mine who blurted out his year-long secret affair with my classmate during a booze party atop a houseboat! Another friend is still being ridiculed; he was caught bawling about how he lost his first place in English Recitation in his third grade! Some try getting stoned to talk, but then the ‘high tide’ would wash over the dialogues.

Now, I can’t pass first-hand comments on smoking up or even boozing, simply cause I’m yet to try either of these. But I can assure you something; food doesn’t land you up in such uncomfortable situations. Food nourishes you – makes you healthy, and adds on to your grey matter (and some flab, if you don’t mind). The taste and the eventual satiation of a full tummy have resulted in many ‘done-deals’ – some corporates even employ secret recipes to get their counterparts/clients to sign that odd-document! Now, that’s not a conspiracy theory; work two years in an MNC, and you’d learn on your own!

The nuances of this strange ‘algebra’ aren’t baffling. The inherent logic is quite simple – words flow out of your mouth, proportional to the stuff in your tummy! The nourishment and the relishing experience soothe the human mind, to produce great conversations – a simple play of hormones! From family-dinners to corporate-brunches, food is the best networking interface. ‘Food-Book’ might be slower than Facebook – but good-food works long-term. unlike the latter! A date at a great restaurant, or an enriching buffet with co-workers is all it takes to ensure lifelong relationships!

That said, food is a double-edged sword; every coin has its flip side, and food is no different! It all starts from bad cuisine. This friend of mine admitted that her biggest turn-off is appalling food! A habitually-calm-person, she would throw the biggest tantrums after an appalling meal! Even culinary habits could turn people off – not everyone is blessed by good eating skills! A few odd souls (myself included) show surprising levels childishness when it comes to ‘eating’. From spilling eatables in a meter-radius to giving whole new definitions for the term ‘ripping it apart’, bad eating habits could be disgusting, even disastrous! To make things worse for foodies who might pass these attributes, there’s always the ‘dieter’ who refuses the tiniest morsel, to cut down kilos! In such unfavourable situations, food simply does not work!

But come to think of it, there’s nothing called a ‘free lunch’, pun intended! Such situations demand the presence of light-refreshments like a cup of coffee (works best with caffeine addicts) or even a glass of wine (best for ‘romantic’ nights); just carry yourself with grace and you’d end up having the time of your life!

Now you know, why they give out  ’food for thought’!

Food – arguably, the most essential requirement for existence of life on the face of Planet Earth. Food is the most ubiquitous and integral part of our lives. Each day, we gobble up countless quantities of food items, savoring the taste, barely remembering to have a neat look at the stuff we ingest. For most of us, the experience of ‘food’ goes solely by the taste it gives.

How wrong!

Taste is just one facet of food – it’s all about the health and calories you get from each morsel of what you eat. Many of us fail to realize that when we eat tonnes of junk food by the day – a habit that will actually pronounce death for a major chunk of humanity in the foreseeable future. No, I’m not exaggerating. The fact is: You are what you eat, period.

CC credits: Cayusa

Surprised? Skeptical? Incensed? I’m not done yet, buddy.

First – the origins of the phrase. What began as a random mention in the essay: “Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante” by French Author Brillat-Savarin in 1826 acquired great fame by the release of the book: You Are What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet
by  nutritionist Victor Lindlahr in 1942. The hippie era of the ’60s saw a craze for healthy food sweep in, giving the phrase a cult aura of its own!

Needless to say, the food you eat goes a long way in modifying and altering yourself. It’s proved that Junk Food is a silent killer – the more crap you eat, the more are chances that you’ll die an early death! There are clear links between junk food and cancer too!! So the next time you savor on that packet of ‘Lays’, beware – you’re shortening your lifespan!

And it’s not just junk food – many studies and analyses have proved that the phrase has staggeringly literal implications. To cut a long story short – you are often what you eat, literally. A case in my point would be people living in the seashore. Their staple food is, no points for guessing, fish. Go live among the fisherfolk and you’ll know better – seashores have the biggest incidents of violence! Check out any seashore in any part of the world – life would be turbulent there for reasons more than one. Wanna know why? What happens to a fish when you pull it out of water? It dies a violent death. And these people eat so much fish! Those of you from India might know a lot of Brahmins – the caste known for their strict vegetarianism. They’re among the calmest people. Rarely do you see them in a fight. There’s this brahmin friend of mine who actually breaks down in tears if someone’s mock-fighting with him! A lack-of-aggression and calmness caused by stringent intake of vegetarian food.

Some of you might think this is pure blasphemy or even downright crap. You have all right to freedom of expression and interpretation. But I just have one thing to say – the next time you eat something, make sure that you eat it for the nutrients – not just for taste!

P.S.

I recommend Vegetarian food. Yes, I’ve turned veggie, thanks to Art Of Living and Prasanth. More on the ‘transformation’ later.

P.P.S.

Of course, you wouldn’t be nuts once you start eating ‘em! Eating nuts is good! : P