Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

When I looked for the patron saint of the chubby, I found St. John Climacus, but somehow, I missed the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He argued that gluttony could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Here are his six methods of committing gluttony:

• Praepropere – eating too soon
• Laute – eating too expensively
• Nimis – eating too much
• Ardenter – eating too eagerly
• Studiose – eating too daintily
• Forente – eating too fervently

The idea that eating can be a sin is prevalent in our society. Almost every disdainful look at a person because of their weight can be linked to the thought that gluttony is a sin. There is some innate human preference to a thinner appearance, but most of the aversion is because of the concept that being fat is sinful. This hasn’t really helped our society, and in some cases, I believe it has made things worse.

When it comes to healthy eating, however, did St. Thomas Aquinas have a good idea?

• Praepropere: I can’t deny that it is harmful if I eat too soon or eat when I’m not hungry. My biggest problem is recognizing that I’m hungry. Too often, I have let myself get too hungry and then I wolf down WAY more food than I need. Recognizing the proper hunger signals is a skill that few of us are taught.

• Laute: During the Middle Ages, St. Thomas Aquinas suggested that eating food that is too expensive was a sin. I hear this argument even today when people say that eating meat is too much of a strain on the environment and if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you should eat vegetarian. It is the underlying assumption for the whole food movement. Eat simply, is the battle cry of laute. I have eaten both ways and I honestly feel better when I eat fresh, whole food, so maybe there is something to this argument.

• Nimis: Anyone with a full stomach after too big of a meal agrees with the idea that eating too much might be a sin. There is actually pain involved, so it’s hard to argue with something that actually causes pain.

• Ardenter: Eating too eagerly is kind of ambiguous to me, but it seems to mean eating too quickly. I know if I eat slower, I eat less. Taking small bites and chewing my food completely helps with my stomach problems AND helps me eat less food.

• Studiose: – When I first wrote this entry, I had no idea what eating too daintily might mean, but the excellent Raven left a comment saying that she thinks it means being too picky. I have to admit that I was brought up to eat whatever I was offered, even if I didn’t like it, so I’ve never really had this problem. I can understand how St. Thomas Aquinas might consider this to be a problem, however. Rejecting food because it doesn’t please you can be just as wasteful as eating it when you’re already full.

• Forente: Does eating too fervently count as eating too quickly? Is it just another wording of the same thing or am I missing something here?

On the whole, St. Thomas Aquinas had some good ideas about healthy eating. I think the idea that overeating is a sin has harmed us far more than helped us, but the ideas of eating slowly only when we’re hungry and not eating too much are classic concepts that shouldn’t be shunned.