In an age where “speed” is king, this piece of wisdom strikes a different chord. Apparently, the slower you eat, the better it is for your health. So says, Dr Yash Paul who has applied to patent this idea.Calling it the “Yash India technique”, Dr Paul says the findings are a part of his five-year study of over 1,000 patients of coronary heart diseases.
The research has been given a copyright by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD). Dr Paul claims that an international patent to the findings is on its way.
According to the technique, one should take 15 to 50 minutes to consume one meal, complete with breads, cereals, cooked vegetables and salads, with at least 10 minutes dedicated to eating just half a chapati.
The doctor believes that if 15 to 20 minutes are spent on eating one chapati, the satiety levels will be achieved even with a reduced meal size. The technique, he says, works on the principle of eating with “brain signals” where the timings of the signals are sent and received by the satiety and hunger centres of the brain without any external medication.
The idea is to spend excessive time on chewing and cutting the food size to bare minimum, to ensure there is no overeating, says Dr Paul.”
Well, my mother always told me so. And so did my grandmother. Unfortunately, they passed on this wisdom, sans the underlying science. But should the mere discovery of the underlying science entitle Dr Paul to a patent? Or has he devised a very specific method (20 minutes per chapati) that goes beyond merely encompassing the basic and unpatentable dictum that slow eating is healthier? I searched online but couldn’t find any of the patent applications in this regard –perhaps they haven’t been published as yet. If any of you have more information on this, let me know. Moving on to the other exciting finding by Dr Paul:
A Fair Innovation?
..Explaining how fairness and skin texture are linked to the time taken in eating a meal, Dr Yash Paul says: “This technique of eating results in better control of Alpha Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone and Malonyl COA expression, thus reducing the stress hormones in the body, which in turn leads lesser darkening or decreased melanin deposition in the body.”
The patients who followed the dietary changes got a clearer and fairer complexion in two to three months, he says.”
Great…in a country obsessed with “fairness”, this will surely count as an innovation that truly caters to “local” needs.
If this patent is granted, does it mean that anyone chewing slowly is infringing on the patent of this Yash dude?
kalikala vaibhavam …..
Nope. It is a discovery not an invention. Have’nt given much thought on this but could not resist the temptation to respond!
Shamnad – apart from the fact that chewing well and eating slowly for better digestion is in the public domain (of course, all of us had our shares of chiding from moms and grandmoms for eating too fast!), how is the inventor going to enforce the invention in the so-called patent? Would I have to take a license from him if I decide to take 15 minutes to chew half of a chapati on my plate? I can understand copyright in a written paper, but as for a patent I am amused and confused!
Hi Latha, Vaibhav, Praveen and Anon,
Thanks for your comments. I’m dying to get hold of the so called “international” application filed. I think you’re all right that the “enforcement” aspect for any such patent can be rather tricky. And I guess this is the same with almost all home remedies, even the true original ones. And unless we have schools/training centres that teach you to implement this unique method, Dr Paul will find himself at a loss to enforce this patent!
Incidentally, on the claim that this slow eating method is healthier, since it makes you “fairer”:
Doesn’t traditional dermatological literature associate dark skin with better skin health?
I agree with you that this has been passed down by word of mouth. ‘Chew 32 times!!’ is what I have been hearing from my mother, and she from her mother and so on. Should this not go into the Traditional Knowledge category of un-patentable ojbects/ideas/processes?
As far as fairness is concerned, this eating technique may result in better control of Alpha Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone and Malonyl COA expression, and may reduce the stress hormones in the body, which may lead to lesser darkening or decreased melanin deposition in the body…..but it will NOT DECREASE the ALREADY PRESENT melanin in the human body since that is genetic!!! Unless there is a way in which a person’s DNA can be changed by chewing slowly, I don’t see how this will make anyone fairer. And you know what…I think even this is Traditional Knowledge. Don’t we all say that worry makes one weak and the person ‘does not look good’? Are we not referring to the sudden blackening of the skin, dark circles under the eyes and dull skin?
I agree with you that this has been passed down by word of mouth. ‘Chew 32 times!!’ is what I have been hearing from my mother, and she from her mother and so on. Should this not go into the Traditional Knowledge category of un-patentable ojbects/ideas/processes?
As far as fairness is concerned, this eating technique may result in better control of Alpha Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone and Malonyl COA expression, and may reduce the stress hormones in the body, which may lead to lesser darkening or decreased melanin deposition in the body…..but it will NOT DECREASE the ALREADY PRESENT melanin in the human body since that is genetic!!! Unless there is a way in which a person’s DNA can be changed by chewing slowly, I don’t see how this will make anyone fairer. And you know what…I think even this is Traditional Knowledge. Don’t we all say that worry makes one weak and the person ‘does not look good’? Are we not referring to the sudden blackening of the skin, dark circles under the eyes and dull skin?
Dr. Yash, let give you a better idea which you can patent (without paying me). Weight loss chapatis,(has a liberal dose of chewing gum). Should take ages to get through half a chapathi.
Actually there is an old idiom itself is there in malayalam..”payye thinnal panayum thinnam” So I don’t thik there is any novelty in that aspect.It is an established fact and a bare truth.
If not anything else… am having a good laugh reading the posts and the comments… As far as the enforceability is concerned .. I agree.. but to get the patent itself.. how would one know if an examiner is a “person skilled in the art”.. albeit eating slowly??? Is there gonna be a slow eating marathon to decipher this????
Plus… I dont think he will have to bother enforcing his patent… in the age of late nights and early mornings.. juice and a sandwich on the go may be the most resorted meal!!! Atleast i speak for many food unobsessed people like me!! But ya.. like Anon says.. weight loss chappatis wouldn’t hurt.. Id be the first in the line myself!!!!
Too bad your mother didn’t patent this herself, decades ago; though it’s true that patent enforcement would be impossible. Anyway, the claim that eating more slowly makes your skin whiter sounds like no more than a marketing tactic.