Why You Shouldn’t Be Eating Alone

It’s all over those magazines. You know, the ones that line the aisle at CVS full of Valentine’s candy and sunscreen. Eating alone is the chic, mile marker of a woman who is thoroughly comfortable and confident in who she is; extra points if she’s sipping a chilled glass of Sancerre and nibbling a salad. Wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses are now optional. This is 2020, after all.

It’s not that big of a stretch for most of us, really. We’re often grabbing a sandwich to scarf alone in our cubicle to avoid the latest saga of a co-worker's internet dating escapades. A hospital cafeteria is the last place anyone wants to order the spaghetti to begin with, let alone watch an army of people in scrubs dive in. The teacher’s room is the last place to find some peace when everything smells like stale coffee and at least three people will attempt to sell you Girl Scout cookies. Eating alone seems the wisest, reasonable and peaceful option.

Unfortunately, it’s not the healthiest.

It seems we’re much more likely to shovel in that second cheeseburger if we know no one’s watching. Aside from scaling back from seconds, we also make healthier choices ( more vegetables and fruits) when there are others around us; especially if they’re choosing the same thing. Because there are people with whom to engage and converse, our digestive system gets a much-needed break as we chat and bump elbows with our neighbor between bites. That means fewer stomach upsets and other rather unfortunate side effects.

But the biggest, most powerful reason to stop sequestering your sushi to the lone bathroom stall is that when you eat with others, YOU LIVE LONGER.

Dan Buettner spent the better part of three years researching centenarians all over the world for his book, Blue Zones Kitchen in order to identify the common threads that unify them. Not surprisingly, more vegetables and fruits, purposeful movement, and limited meat/dairy consumption were a few of the similarities. However, while flavor profiles change from Greece, to Japan, to California with the usage of lemon juice or miso or avocado, one factor alone remained exactly the same.

They all eat together. With people they love and feel connected to. Every, single day. They didn’t buy a Pelaton, do the Whole30 or invest in a six-month Noom membership. The simple act of sharing a meal is enough to buoy them for the rest of their day, and days to come. Eating communally feeds the soul, decreases anxiety and creates an overall feeling of wellness that nothing else can replicate.

As much as we’d like to think we’re benefitting from our solo, lunch hour Mandalorian binges, the research doesn’t lie. We were never meant to eat alone.

Unless it’s the last pint of Ben and Jerry’s Urban Bourbon the day before a snowstorm. Then go home, shut the blinds and tell no one. A solid 99 years would be satisfactory.