That’s why we know an idiom for food, “the finger licking good”. On the other hand, somebody else think that licking fingers after eating is gross and even impolite. However, we can get the benefits of licking fingers after eating.
How come this kind of habit give benefits for us? well, for some of you, it might be nonsense. But for your information, licking finger after eating is suggested for Muslim. It is because this habit was derived from Prophet Muhammad pbuh, the last and great prophet of Islam, that licking finger after eating can give you mercy.
The benefits of licking fingers after eating
Some people might not know that licking fingers after eating can be so beneficial for health. besides, it can also be beneficial for your mentality. So, what are the benefits of licking fingers after eating? Here are some of the beneficial points.
Besides consuming natural ingredients for immunity such as Health Benefits of Goldenseal and Echinacea , we can improve our immunity by doing some habits. One of the habits is licking fingers after eating. Human hand can excrete beneficial enzyme called RNA.
This enzyme can improve our immune system by acting as bacteria binder. It works efficiently when we clean our hand. As we know, licking finger after eating is one of the acts to immediately clean our finger from dirt and foods. This way, licking fingers after eating can optimize the work of RNase enzyme in supporting our immune system.
We can say than hands and fingers is where the bacteria stay. However, it doesn’t mean that licking fingers is completely dangerous for us. we should know that some of the bacteria exist are good or beneficial for our body. in this case, licking fingers after eating can improve our sensitivity to bacteria and excrete more RNase which can reduce the activity of dangerous bacteria and let the good bacteria to do the good work.
Most people think that licking fingers after eating is gross and have a bigger chance to the bacteria exposure. But do you know that using eating utensils sometimes can be riskier than using our fingers? Well, the eating utensils are easily contaminated by bacteria which can harm our digestion. On the other hand, licking fingers after eating can improve our immunity toward bacteria within the digestive system.
The nervous system of our hands is directly connected to our brain. So, eating without using spoon or cutlery and licking fingers afterwards enable our hands to easily detect texture and temperature of the food we eat. This way, the nervous system can quickly prepare the brain to accept the foods. This process can also take part in improving our appetite.
You know that the idiom finger licking good can describe a food which is extremely delicious. From this, we can conclude that licking finger after eating is one of the ways in enjoying our food. It can also be a representation of our gratitude for the foods we have. The other habit to improve enjoyment in eating is included in Health Benefits of Long Term Fasting .
Sometimes, the simple act can affect our mental state. Just like the Health Benefits of Holding Hands for Mental Treatments, licking fingers after eating also influence our mental condition. For example, it influences how we improve our gratitude.
We must be grateful for everything we have, including foods. Licking fingers after eating teaches us to be grateful by not leaving a single food from our plate. It helps us completely clean the foods from our hands and plate. In addition, it is in line with the Islamic value about how to be grateful.
How to Lick Finger After Eating
To get the benefits of licking fingers after eating, of course we should eat using our hands. It is better if we don’t use spoon or the other cutlery. According to Islamic value, it is better to lick our fingers after eating than wipe it using napkin or cloth.
So, you can directly lick your fingers to clean any foods left on your fingers. According to sunnah in Islam, we can also ask the closest person to lick our fingers such as spouse, parents, or children if they agree to do that. Here are what you can do:
This activity is also related to the value that every single piece of food is a blessing, and we cannot miss any blessing that we get. If we leave the foods on our hand and wipe it away, there is possibility that the left-over has the most blessing than the other piece of food we had.
Cautions in Licking Fingers After Eating
Besides the benefits of licking fingers after eating mentioned above, we should be cautious toward some points. The first thing you should consider is about hygiene. Well, you can have the benefits of licking fingers after eating only if you wash your hands very well before you eat.
Therefore, when you lick your fingers, there will be only the left-over food, not the dirt you get from your daily activity. Make sure you wash your hand with soap before you eat to avoid some health problems such as diarrhea and stomachache.
If you want to lick your fingers after eating, but you are aware of being in the public place, don’t worry. You can just do what you want, but make sure to not make noise and attract people attention. You should also consider that this act might not be acceptable for some people.
On the other hand, some other may open to this activity, and even recommend this habit, especially for Muslim. There are some other habits recommended in Islam to get the spiritual and physical benefits, such as Spiritual Benefits of Keeping a Cat in Islam for Mental Wellness and Health Benefits of Beards in Islam .