Double Standards of Eating with Your Hands

If you grew up in South Asia, the Middle East, or Africa, eating with your hands is more than just a habit. Instead, it is a practice deeply rooted in culture, comfort, and connection. But step into certain spaces and suddenly you’re seen as ‘uncivilized’ or, with an extra scowl, ‘dirty’ and ‘unhygienic’. So why is that?

Double Standards

Sorry to break it to you, but the same people throwing shade are also biting into that double-smashed, no-onions and no-pickles burger with their bare hands. And that overpriced Italian pizza slice? No one needs a knife and fork performance for that. Think back to your last all-you-can-eat sushi night. When the chopsticks betrayed you, that California roll still landed right in your palm.

And yet, all of this is perfectly fine. But the moment someone a shade browner eats curry with their hands, they’re suddenly “dirty.”

Hands are Nature’s Utensils

Here’s the thing: your hands were the first utensils ever invented. And turns out, they’re still some of the best. Eating with your hands isn’t just cultural, it’s biological.

According to a study published in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, eating with hands helps one pick up useful information about the food, including its freshness, ripeness and temperature. More than that, people who eat with their hands exhibit greater portion control, improved digestion and balanced blood sugar.

Studies show that eating fast causes blood-sugar imbalances in the body and raises the risk of diabetes in people. When a person uses their hands, it will slow down the pace of eating as it is a more conscious process. This gives the brain enough time to respond when full, improve digestion, and balance blood sugar.

You slow down, you taste more, and you actually connect with your food, beyond the flavour profile.

Eating with your hands is a journey that reminds you what it took to have food on your plate, acknowledging the privilege it is to consume it. It reminds you of the farmers who grew the rice, the soil that nourished the vegetables, even the cows that gave the milk for your yogurt. Eating with your hands ties you to the effort, care, and life behind every plate.

Plus, let’s be honest, crafting the perfect bite is an art. You skip that rogue clove or whole chilli while scooping up just the right balance of rice, curry, and salad. That’s something a fork could never do.

Cultural Heritage

It’s not just curry. 

Here is just a small list of traditional foods celebrated and culturally eaten with hands, whether that be; 

  • Scooping up stews with Injera in Ethiopia 
  • Rolling tamales in Mexico
  • Tearing into roti in South Asia and the Caribbean
  • Savoring fufu in West Africa;
  • Or grabbing a shawarma wrap in the Middle East.

Eating with your hands isn’t uncivilized, it’s universal.