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Hello Ziddis! Have you ever found yourself finishing a meal, only to not even remember what it was or what it tasted like? Maybe you were distracted between scrolling and finding the perfect sitcom to watch while you ate, or you had a rushed, working meal. Eating has become another multitasking activity, but this distracted way of eating doesn’t just rob you of the enjoyment but also leads to overeating, poor digestion and a weaker connection with your body’s hunger cues!

Mindful Eating

What is mindful eating that you are hearing about on social media or through influencers? Mindful eating is a practice of being fully present while you eat and paying attention to the food. It follows the principles of mindfulness, which encourage us to be aware of what we eat instead of hurriedly filling our stomachs. When one eats mindfully, they are more likely to notice the meal, their own satiety and also enjoy the food more. Basically, “autopilot hogging” is out of the window, and we bring in more awareness to the table, which helps us understand whether we are eating for the sake of it or for the needs of our body. 

Foods to Eat for Brain Health

Eating for the needs of your body will not only help in portion control but also ensure that one’s food has an actual purpose. Such as these foods for brain health:

• Fatty fish rich in omega-3
• Nuts and seeds like almonds and walnuts
• Berries are packed with antioxidants
• Leafy greens like spinach and kale
• Whole grains for steady energy
• Dark chocolate for mood regulation

While these foods are great for your cognitive functioning, they are also very healthy and have an impact on your overall fitness journey. 

Mindful Eating and Weight Loss

Mindful eating isn’t a fad diet like intermittent fasting or keto. But it has been shown to make a significant improvement in people’s weight loss journey. Here’s how:

• The slower you eat, the more time it gives your brain and body to register if it is full and satiated 
• You become more aware of the food you eat and end up not hogging junk mindlessly
• Your usual portion size shrinks because you feel fuller with less food

Unlike restrictive diets, what mindful eating does is build a healthier relationship with food, reduce guilt associated with eating and end your binge eating cycles.

Mindful Eating Practices

You do not need to alter your entire lifestyle. Making small shifts can make a big difference.

• Have at least one meal a day where you are not distracted by media or other elements.
• Chew slowly and eat without rushing yourself
• Be alert with regards to the food you eat, its smell, texture and taste
• Eat at a table, not your workstation or in bed
• Clear your headspace of any distracting thoughts before you sit to eat
• Dedicating 15 to 20 minutes to each meal can improve digestion and satisfaction.
• Make every craving indulgence healthy by including fit foods and oats protein.

Read Also: Eating for Energy: How to Stay Fuelled All Day

Takeaway

While mindful eating is starting to sound like Instagram influencer jargon when they are asked about their summer bods, it is just as simple as being aware of the food you have. Growing up, we heard from our parents and grandparents to focus on our meals and not watch television or talk when we have it. Mindful eating is just that, with a healthy tag attached to it. It’s time to choose to slow down and truly experience your meals for better digestion, improved portion control, and a deeper appreciation for food.

Hello Ziddis! We are all very dependent on our digital devices for even the smallest tasks. We live in a world where a quick check turns into an hour of scrolling without even realising it. Your social feed is designed to keep you hooked on it, and at the centre of it is the dopamine kick. The easy dopamine that your brain craves is the feel-good chemical that your brain releases. While it plays an important role in motivation and pleasure, it only pushes you to do and replicate the actions that gave you the dopamine kick in the first place. In this case, if scrolling is what gave you a dopamine hit, you would end up scrolling miles!

Is Dopamine Necessary?

Dopamine is released when you experience something rewarding. The problem? These days, we seek it on social media through likes, comments, messages, a new reel, a new episode and so on. Social media rewards are quick and create a loop where your brain keeps seeking what’s next. This makes it hard to stay focused on slower, less stimulating tasks like reading, working out, or even having a long, meaningful conversation with someone, even though it is more rewarding than scrolling. Dopamine does not realise the difference between digital overload and actual reward, hence it is in our hands how we want to stimulate dopamine production. Research in Neuron, an acclaimed science journal shows dopamine helps the brain encode rewarding experiences, improving memory and skill-building.

Dopamine Addiction

While not a clinical addiction in the traditional sense, the pattern of compulsive scrolling closely mirrors an addictive behaviour. You reach out for your phone and start scrolling on social media when you actually unlocked it to dial a number or do a calculation. This overstimulation leads to:

• Reduced attention span: Leading to difficulty in concentrating deeply or finishing tasks.
• Sleep disruption: Late-night scrolling and checking your phone first thing in the morning interfere with your body’s natural sleep cycle and leaves you feeling tired.
• Increased anxiety: You end up accumulating self-doubt in your mind, constant comparison and information overload. Your mental strain is off the charts.
• Easy reward system: Instead of working on projects that matter, you procrastinate on social media.

Heavy social media users, those who use social media for more than 4 hours each day, report difficulty sustaining attention and poorer memory recall compared to lighter users.

Benefits of Dopamine

Dopamine is not the villain. It is extremely important because it makes you feel motivated, focused and driven. Healthy dopamine release comes from activities that require effort and bring long-term satisfaction, such as:

• Exercising or yoga
• Learning something new
• Meeting new people or spending time with your loved ones offline
• Achieving your goals
• Completing your to-do list

These sources create a more stable and fulfilling sense of reward, unlike the short-lived spikes you get from scrolling.

Boost Dopamine (the Healthy Way)

Digital detox is a great way to boost dopamine the healthy way. You can rebalance it by shifting towards more intentional habits, such as:

• Start your day without your phone for at least 30 minutes
• Replace scrolling with activities like journaling or working out
• Get sunlight and move your body first thing in the morning
• Set a limitation on your social media access
• Set small and achievable goals to rebuild natural motivation

These habits help your brain reset and start enjoying slower, more meaningful rewards again.

Read Also: Sleep Debt: Can You Really Catch Up on Weekends?

Takeaway

Constant scrolling may feel harmless, but it’s quietly training your brain to crave instant gratification while reducing your ability to focus, rest, and feel genuinely fulfilled. The solution isn’t to quit technology, it’s to create boundaries. The more you reduce overstimulation, the more your mind regains clarity, calm, and control.

Hello Ziddis! Have you ever thought why it is that you can make sensible financial decisions at lightning speed and give important presentations even on a drowsy Monday morning, but when someone asks you “what do you wanna eat?” your brain starts to glitch! You are not lazy or indecisive by nature; this is called decision fatigue. The human brain is great, but fueling has always been a bit of a complexity. Every choice you make throughout the day takes from your mental energy. 

What is Decision Fatigue?

Decision fatigue is the psychological phenomenon where the quality of your decisions deteriorates after a long session of decision-making. While you can feel the physical fatigue in your body, your muscles and your actions, decision fatigue is subtle. It’s the “wear and tear” on your willpower. Your willpower is your battery, and at the start of the day, it seems to be fully charged. But that truly depends on how well you have rested. When your battery goes into power saving mode, it starts to look for ways to reduce usage and resorts to making impulsive decisions.

Decision Fatigue Symptoms

Decision fatigue does not show up in obvious ways. The symptoms ofn decision fatigues are very similar to feeling like losing your mental bandwidth. Here are some of those symptoms you can keep a check on:

• You start procrastinating more: You find it difficult to start a task because the feeling of “how to even begin” creeps up on you 
• You become more impulsive: Impulsive in the way that you lose your filter when you react, it could be snapping at a coworker or buying something you don’t even need because your brain is too tired to weigh the consequences
• Brain fog becomes a regular state: You generally start feeling overwhelmed and even the simplest questions feel taxing
• You avoid decision making: Choosing the default option or nothing at all becomes your personality. 

Decision Fatigue Examples

You can look at some proven hypothesis to know how decision fatigue shows up in a regular day to regular people and influence their decisions:

• The Judge Effect: Studies show that judges are more likely to be lenient or grant parole in the morning or right after lunch break. As the end ends and the decision fatigue sets, they want to make more obvious, less risky choice of denying parole.
• The Supermarket Trap: Have you observed that there are candy stands and knick-knacks placed right by the checkout? This is because they know that by the time you have made choices for everything in the store you are already fatigued and will grab some. 
• The “What’s for Dinner?” Crisis: After making big decision throughout the day, even a simple act of choosing a meal feels like running a marathon. It is not about cooking, or any physical effort but more about making a choice and that is how you end up with an unhealthy takeaway.

Overcome Decision Fatigue

There are ways to snap out of decision fatigue or make sure that you don’t fall into it at all. The goal is to conserve energy for the decisions which actually matter. Here are some research backed tricks:

Think of your energy as a bowl of sugar or a wallet of money. That is all that you have and you have to wise how you wish to spend it. Comparing energy to tangible things which can finish gives you a context to how much you can afford to spend. 

• Prep for meals a night before like over night oats, packing your lunch bag with fit foods or keeping your  oats protein ready for the morning workout. 
• Reduce the number of choices you make by setting a pattern for each choice. For example: wearing black to work every friday or having salads for lunch every monday.
• Prioritise tougher tasks when your battery is full in the morning.
• Limit your options. 

Read Also: Energy Crashes? Your Blood Sugar Might Be Playing Games

Takeaway

You willpower is a precious and finite resource which you are using up as you make choices. If you treat every choice as a priority, you’ll end up with no energy left for the things that truly move the needle in your life. Make sure you recognise the signs that your brain is tired of making decisions and let yourself take a break.

Hello Ziddis! Do you feel a sudden slump after having a meal where your energy drops, focus wavers and all you want is something sugary or snacky? It is not cravings or laziness. It is your blood sugar level fluctuating. When you eat, your body converts food into glucose, aka sugar, which is the fuel, aka energy. But the type of food you eat, when you eat and how much determines the quality of the energy you get. Sometimes the food can cause spikes and crashes in energy levels and leave you feeling drained.

Blood Sugar Crashes

A blood sugar crash typically happens after a rapid spike. For example, if you eat refined carbs or sugary snacks like biscuits, white bread or dessert, it can cause a quick rise in glucose. Your body responds by releasing insulin to bring it down, but sometimes insulin levels overshoot. Here is what happens next:

• Sudden fatigue
• Brain fog
• Irritability
• Craving more sugar
• A cycle of spike, crash, cravings, repeat.

Low Blood Sugar

When your blood sugar drops too low, your body goes into energy-saving mode. You might feel shaky and lightheaded or unusually hungry. Even mild dips can affect your mood and hamper your concentration. This makes it difficult to stay focused on your task or churn out productivity through the day. This happens mostly if you:

• Skip meals
• Eat high-sugar, low-fibre foods
• Go long hours without eating

Blood Sugar Monitor AKA Blood Glucose meter

If you have wondered how your body responds differently to different foods, here’s an experiment to try. For this, you will need a blood sugar monitor. It is a device that gives real-time insight into your blood sugar levels. A blood glucose meter is another tool (more traditional than continuous monitors) used to check sugar levels at specific times. While often associated with diabetes management, it can also help build awareness about how your diet affects your body.

Many people now use continuous monitors to understand how meals, stress and sleep impact their energy levels. You can use the blood glucose meter at intervals after each meal and monitor the spikes and crashes in your glucose and energy levels to understand how your body is deriving energy from each source.

How to Keep Your Energy Stable

The goal is sustainable energy, for which it is important to balance your meals. Here is how you can do it:

• Pair carbs with proteins and fat, like bread toast with peanut butter or rice with chicken.
• Do not skip meals
• Choose complex carbs like whole grains
• Reduce processed or refined foods
• Start your day right with proteins
• Stay hydrated
• Amp up your workouts by using whey protein

Read Also: Energy Hacks: How Sunlight, Sleep Cycles & Circadian Rhythms Affect Fitness

Takeaway

Energy crashes aren’t random. They are your body’s reaction to unstable blood sugar levels. By making small changes to what and when you eat, you can avoid the highs and lows and feel more consistently energised throughout the day.

Hello Ziddis! Do you get the feeling of burn inside your chest that comes after eating? While it might seem easy to dismiss the feeling as a side effect of eating too spicy or overeating, recurrent issues might mean you are suffering from acid reflux or heartburn, which your body wants to highlight as a warning sign.

Acid Reflux

In acid reflux, the acidic contents of the stomach regurgitate back into the oesophagus, which connects the mouth to the stomach and causes irritation in the lining of the tube, giving a burning sensation. Around 825 million people globally were living with acid reflux/GERD in 2021

Some common factors that lead to acid reflux are:

• Overeating or overeating quickly 
• Eating and then sleeping immediately 
• High in fat and spicy, or fried foods 
• Carbonated beverages and caffeine 
• Irregularities in food schedules

Heartburn

Heartburn, the most common symptom of acid reflux, has nothing to do with your heart. It refers to a burning feeling in the chest, usually after meals. It can be:

• Burning or sharp pain in the chest 
• Worsened by lying down or bending over
• Felt like having food that comes back up

While occasional heartburn can happen, recurring cases should never be taken lightly.

Heartburn Symptoms

Apart from burning, other symptoms may be:

• A sour or bitter taste in the mouth
• Feeling bloated or heavy after meals
• Difficulties in swallowing, coughing and throat irritation 
• Feeling a lump in the throat

Should such symptoms recur, your digestive system may be experiencing a rougher time than you can imagine.

How to Relieve Acid Reflux

Countries like India report some of the highest numbers of acid reflux cases worldwide, largely due to population size and changing food habits. Fortunately, some simple steps can help improve this condition dramatically.

Eat Better

• Have smaller meals throughout the day 
• Skip trigger foods, such as spicy, fried, and acidic ones. A study suggests that over 50–65% of people link heartburn to meals, especially fatty or spicy foods. 
• Consider soothing foods, like oats, bananas, and yoghurt substitutes (dairy may not work for you)

Improve Timing

• Stay off your bed for 2–3 hours after meals. 
• Consume your main meal earlier in the day, if acid reflux strikes at night

Change Your Lifestyle

• Maintain a healthy weight 
• Avoid coffee and carbonated drinks 
• Manage stress through yoga and mild exercise
• Change your snacks to fit foods

Immediate Remedies

• Have hot beverages like tea
• Sleep with your head at an elevation
• Wear loose clothes above your tummy

Read Also: The Blue Zone Diet: What to Eat to Live Longer

Takeaway

It is not wise to accept this burning sensation after meals as normal. This may occur occasionally, but recurrent acid reflux or heartburn means your body needs help. Consulting a physician should be done if such symptoms recur twice a week or more, or become worse over time and start interfering with your activities. Remember that your body knows best!