Friday, June 4, 2010

Would you take a pill instead of eating?

I would rather take a pill for each meal, rather than suffer the inconvenience of eating.

In the last few years I have made a habit of asking people if they would consider taking a pill instead of eating food. A majority, probably about 90% are strongly against the idea of taking a pill for food.

Here is a list of reasons given as to why they would not give up eating food:
1. i like to eat
2. i like flavors/tastes of a certain food(s)
3. pill could be unsafe (i dont trust them)
4. i enjoy the social aspect of eating
5. i do not like change

These are all very good reasons to be against a pill meal plan (pmp), however there are certain things people seem to assume when imagining a PMP system. People often think by agreeing to a PMP they would never be able to eat food again, which would simply not be the case. Anyone developing a PMP system surely would not make it so the PMP consumer would have to commit to only pill the rest of his/her life. That would quite obviously scare away potential costumers, including myself. A PMP should make us less dependent, not more so.

Secondly, a lot of people seem to think the PMP would be designed not in our benefit, while I am imagining a PMP that would be very advanced and fit our lifestyles. One of the big benefits of a PMP would be customization and convenience. I imagine pill making device, it would like a microscope, you would blow in one end and it could calculate your dietary needs and pump out a pill. The device could work for each meal, or for an entire day, week, or months worth of meals. If you wanted to eat a normal dinner each day and have pills for lunch and breakfast you could program that into the pill maker.

People are quick to also assume that pills would be made with low grade old dried out ingredients that would not be of proper value for your system. However, I imagine that the pill maker would use only the best ingredients and make the most fresh/organic pills possible. The idea is to find exactly what our body needs to thrive, and have those things in our pills.

What I want to know is if you would ever consider a PMP in your life? If it was giving you the nutrients you need on a meal by meal basis, was available, affordable and convenient, and did not stop you from eating normal meals when you wanted; would you try it?

I would in a heartbeat. I would use all the time I saved to finish the piles of projects I've started in my lifetime.

2 comments:

Thetoymakers said...

Absolutely not! Mindful eating is one of the great joys of being alive. I love everything about food, preparing it, tasting new recipes and new flavors. I love eating with friends and family. Why would I give that up for any reason?

I don't care if I could have Willy Wonka's magic chewing gum (without the nasty Violet Beauregarde side effects.) There is something lovely about preparing each meal by hand that I'd much rather do.

Melissza said...

I would absolutely LOVE that! Like you said, it's not about giving up real food - it's the option of a substitute when it's not convenient to spend time and energy procuring, preparing and ingesting food.
I do enjoy eating when I have the time to sit and taste the food and especially when there is a social aspect to it. But when I'm in a hurry, I'd much rather a quick pill than having to waste time eating some sandwich I've grabbed at the station while waiting for my train.
I appreciate that some people actually do enjoy preparing food - I don't and so even in the event that I do have enough time to prepare a "real" meal, there are things I'd much rather be doing with my time.
Thanks for your post. I'm unfashionably late in replying but I hope that doesn't harm the mojo of your blog!