Walking and Eating: Are You a Biological Error?

Shahid Khan - Yogveda Yoga
3 days ago
2 min read

Multitasking at lunch: A satirical look at the "efficient" human ignoring biological instincts.

I Observe the people in Bern at lunchtime. It is a spectacle of "efficiency." A sandwich in one hand, a smartphone in the other, headphones in the ears, while legs rush to the next Nowhere. We call this multitasking. We call this High Performance.

But if you saw a dog running frantically in circles while trying to eat and barking at a wall, you would take it to the vet. You would say it has a neurological disorder. It has lost its instincts.

Why do we accept as "career" in humans what we would diagnose as illness in animals?

The Pathology of "Efficiency": Why We Do It

This behavior is not a strength; it is a symptom. It is the sum of self-imposed work stress and the pressure of home chores. We attempt to "save" time by cheating our biology. Combined with poor food choices (deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals) and excessive screen time (dopamine addiction), we have forgotten what every wild animal knows intuitively: There is a time to hunt, and there is a time to feed. To do both at once is madness.

The Hard Facts: Why You Are Starving While Eating

When you walk and eat, you are not performing a "life hack." You are committing a crime against your metabolism. Here are the physiological facts:

1. The Cephalic Phase (The 30% Loss)

Science shows that up to 30-40% of your digestive response (stomach acid, enzymes) is triggered by the sight and smell of food before you take the first bite. If your eyes are on emails and your ears are on a podcast, your brain skips this phase. You are throwing food into a stomach that isn't ready.

2. The Vascular Shunt (Missing Blood)

Your nervous system has two modes: Fight/Flight (Sympathetic) or Rest/Digest (Parasympathetic). When you walk or stress-think, the body shunts blood to your legs and brain. It physically withdraws it from the gut (Ischemia). You are asking your stomach to digest a meal without the necessary blood supply. The result? Fermentation, bloating, and toxic buildup (Ama).

3. The Cortisol Cocktail

Stress and movement release cortisol. Cortisol signals the body to store fat (especially visceral belly fat) and ignore nutrient absorption. You aren't eating a sandwich; you are eating a cortisol sandwich.