I can see the point of not eating while driving or working, but seems to me that reading or watching tv is relaxing and doesn't require that part of the brain (sympathetic?) that directs you in doing things. Or maybe I'm rationalizing. But eating without reading? Never done it.

My conscious mind doesn't need to be involved in my digestion; it just needs to get out of the way. Which is true of a lot of other things I do, too. Like sex.

Now am having tea, and will later see Kristen's groovy office at Drive! And will take pictures! And post them!

Fun day!

I have a dining room. I have a dining room table (same as Tom Scola's, actually.) However, on that dining room table, I have the laptop. And the hard drive. And a desk organizer thing spilling paper and bills. And a lamp. And stacks of paper and magazines and books and a box of kleenex and a box of bags and whatever other thing I needed in the past few days while sitting at that table. And often a cat.

I eat at the table. I also pay bills, computer, read the Monitor.....

80% of your digestion could take place in your mouth, but we all just gulp and swallow?

I don't think so. Digestion prep, sure. But the big bad enzymes aren't getting to work in your mouth. You're working all the way through your intestines, not even just your stomach.

You have a vitamin supplement argument?

Humans did not evolve to take a pill just to supplement a normal diet. If you have a preexisting deficiency, like say from illness or dietary restrictions, obviously you might need to supplement. But our bodies are pretty good at making do. Just like how if you feel fine you're not chronically dehydrated like the "eight glasses of water" people want you to think. I've never heard, "I made no changes in my diet or behavior but I started taking vitamins and my health is totally different!"

Probably true, but that doesn't prove anything about whether that's either needed or beneficial.

Teeth are the only part of the human digestive system that can break down cellulose, so chewing is pretty much the only way we can get nutrients out of raw fruits and vegetables.

If I didn't multitask while eating, I'd never get anything done. I usually catch up on The Daily Show and Colbert Report while making and eating dinner, otherwise it's What Not To Wear or the internet.

About the only time I actually sit down at the dinner table and eat is when I'm too tired to focus on anything else, or when what I'm eating is too messy to eat elsewhere.

Hey guys, what effect would, say, hypothetically, forgetting to add the salt have on a cake, like, say, a fruitcake?

bon bon, I love your rant.

I've never heard, "I made no changes in my diet or behavior but I started taking vitamins and my health is totally different!"

While I do agree that a fair amount of vitamin-talk is cockamamie self-help in pill format, I've recently been nagged by my doctor to take calcium supplements, since skinny white women are prime candidates for osteoporosis. Now, I was told to take calcium supplements because I forgot to mention that, unlike most calcium-rich foods, I do eat ice cream regularly; but if I didn't care for ice cream, I'd probably consider taking pills. I just don't eat calcium-rich foods, often -- except for ice cream.

Also, I am told that taking Vitamin C -- the large doses in the chewables people eat like candy -- will make you pee red white and blue. That is a change in health! (Possibly not for the better.)

Another also: I am suddenly remembering that my sister got recommended to take iron supplements when she was in high school, because they thought she was anemic. But in fact, she is just really really pale for no reason except genetics, and did not need iron at the time. (Maybe she does now!)

Teeth are the only part of the human digestive system that can break down cellulose, so chewing is pretty much the only way we can get nutrients out of raw fruits and vegetables.

Fair, but I'm not arguing for swallowing things whole -- I specified (but should probably clarify) chewing normally (which is admittedly vague) as opposed to "chew a whole lot more than normal for 80% better flebotnum".