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TASTE BUDS RULE our lives and nobody seems
to notice. The consequences are: We're fat, we have diseases
like diabetes, we feel bad about ourselves, we are unhealthy
and out of shape. Maybe not you. Maybe you're still young and
it hasn't caught up with you yet. Maybe your cells and pancreas
haven't become fatigued and your cells aren't insensitive to
insulin yet. Or maybe you have disciplined your eating to some
degree already. But one thing is sure: If you only ate what your
taste buds desired, it would eventually spoil a great deal of
your quality of life. For most people, their eating habits will
be the core cause of what eventually kills them.
You've probably been fighting it. If you're
reading this, chances are good you are the kind of person who
takes your health into your own hands. Good for you.
But this insight will raise you above the
fight. It will put taste buds in their proper place: Voteless.
Without a voice. No more important than your cheek or a pinky
toe.
This is a consumer society and the most
prominent feature is literally consuming. Food is a major entertainment
industry and frighteningly delicious food is being pushed on
you from every angle. Food is a major activity of almost everyone.
It takes up time and attention. Think of all the money and effort
going to please those little buds on our tongues — at the
expense of worthy causes, at the expense of our own health, at
the expense of the planet as rainforests are being plowed under
and oceans are being stripped clean to please our tongues.
Take this vow with me. Give up eating for
pleasure. Like a holy vow. Similar to a vow of chastity or a
vow of poverty, and basically for the same reason. Eat only what
you need to nourish your body. It will be fresh vegetables, fruit,
nuts, and good sources of protein.
You need only to consider one question
when you wonder if this food is what is best for you: "Would
I eat this if I couldn't taste it?" That question is more
ingenious than it might seem at first.
What about when you are at someone's birthday
party and everyone gets a piece of cake? Would you eat that cake
even if you couldn't taste it? Yes, you probably would because
you wouldn't want your hostess to feel bad, you wouldn't want
the other people at the party to feel awkward by your abstinence,
and you want to be part of the ceremony.
Ask yourself the question. It will steer
you right every time.
Your taste buds want to eat sugar, fat,
salt, and goodies. But they are like little kids jumping up and
down pleading for a cookie. You need to be the dedicated parent
who kindly but firmly says "no." The cookies aren't
good for you. They won't help you grow strong and tall and smart.
Another good analogy is fidelity. When
you get married, you choose to be faithful. You know you'll meet
others who will be attractive to you. But you know it will spoil
intimacy and trust, so you choose to forgo those goodies for
a higher good.
It is not really a sacrifice. You give
up a superficial temptation for a sacred reason. Your life is
better because of it. You are a higher being when you stay true
to your vow. You are happier. The people in your world are happier.
It is good. The same is true for the vow to forgo the pleasures
of the tongue. Not that you'll try to find foods that taste bad.
Taste will become irrelevant. It is not one of the considerations
you will use to decide whether to eat something or not.
Luckily, most of what you eat will still
taste pretty good.
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