Thoughts on dessert/sweets?

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In the page on gluttony catholic encyclopedia states that “ It is incontrovertible that to eat or drink for the mere pleasure of the experience, and for that exclusively, is likewise to commit the [sin]. Desserts and other sweets are often eaten merely for the pleasure of eating, and not for nutritional value. If one does not over eat, overindulge, etc., and has a sweet for the pleasure of eating the sweet would that still be gluttony? Is pleasure for the sake of pleasure always a sin?
 
Oh man, I hope not! [Just ate two Hershey kisses… because, yum!]
 
kanyewest said:
It is incontrovertible that to eat or drink for the mere pleasure of the experience, and for that exclusively, is likewise to commit the [sin]. Desserts and other sweets are often eaten merely for the pleasure of eating, and not for nutritional value.
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Would that be a mortal or a venial sin of gluttony if one eats a scoop of ice cream or a piece of fudge chocolate cake?
 
God gave us taste buds so we could enjoy our food. Otherwise, if there was no pleasure in eating, we might not feed ourselves sufficiently. Of course, if one is hungry enough, one will eat anything edible. But I believe it’s perfectly okay to eat both for nutrition and for pleasure. The sin may be in excess – if we eat way too much and it affects our health, or if we don’t balance our diets and eat too much of just one thing – that could be harmful and the sin would be in intentionally harming ourselves. But to eat for enjoyment because a food tastes divine is no sin, as long as it’s done in moderation. God didn’t put us here on earth to live miserable lives.
 
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I highly recommend reading St. Thomas’ work in the Summa in regards to gluttony:

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3148.htm

Or if you dont want to read this video sums up gluttony as well:


It’s not a sin to enjoy, it is a sin to indulge. One can eat a fudge brownie as a nice treat for themself. It is a sin to eat the entire pan of brownies in one sitting.
 
I view desserts and sweets the same way I view alcoholic beverages. There is nothing wrong with having one or two beers/glasses of wine/shots of whiskey, etc. It becomes a problem with you have 8 glasses of wine, two six packs, and a bottle of whiskey. There is a happy medium.
 
We had an elderly patient on a tube feeding, who was getting all his required calories, but missed the social aspects of sitting at the table with everybody and didn’t want to be the only one there without a plate. So the dietician, nurses and the patient worked out a plan for “pleasure feedings”—basically to cut his food very small (he had a severe swallowing dysfunction) and let him take as much as he wanted.
He never actually choked (although he had a few cough-and-gag episodes) and it improved his quality of life.

This certainly wasn’t gluttony, although it was over his caloric requirements.
 
The seven deadly sins are attitudes and inclination we have to break the Ten Commandments.

Gluttony is related to avarice.

A glutton isn’t just a person who likes to eat or overeat on occasion.

An extreme example is Kim Jong Un, who lives and eats lavishly while his subjects arw kept at quasi starvation levels. Or Maduro in Venezuela.

For us eating brownies would be problematic if you spent the food allowance on brownies but neglected to buy milk and fruit for the children in the household.
It’s ok to enjoy food and desserts.
 
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This is a timely topic.

Speaking only for myself here – I am overweight (205 lb) but not obese, and my weight is not increasing. I do not grossly indulge in the stash of sweets that I keep around the house, but I do indulge after every meal, and I have recently come to the conclusion that I am indulging too much. I think it’s time that I cut back. Way back.

As soon as I finish off what’s currently in the house.

D
 
My son was on a feeding tube for a few months. The children’s hospital had rules about others eating in front of children with feeding tubes. It wasn’t permitted.

They needed to make an exception for me to take my meals in his room because I was his main caregiver and he spent much of his time sleeping so he wasn’t really aware of me eating. But I did go across the room out of eyesight.
 
F_Marturana said:
The children’s hospital had rules about others eating in front of children with feeding tubes. It wasn’t permitted.
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That makes very good sense for the kiddos, they have poor impulse control and the little ones “mouth” things anyway because of developmental level.

My patient was in a retirement community where he came to us before the tube was placed. So he had his table-mates and enjoyed the socialization. After the tube was placed, he was given the option to come to the table, but he didn’t like having to smell the food and watch other people eat. But he got lonely staying in his room, so that’s why the facility worked out the compromise, and it was good for him.
 
There’s also the possibility that the baker/cook/chief made the food out of love. By enjoying the dessert or the tapas you are returning the love.

As others have noted, the problem comes in loosing that balance, particularly where you come from a culture where you show you love your children by how much you feed them, and the children show they love you by how much of your cooking they eat. (cue the Jewish mother/German mama/Russian babush)
 
No, likewise the act of procreation is pleasurable indeed and when it is done with the proper intention then it is not a sin.
When we experience the emotion of pleasure that is not sinful by itself. It is the associated acts that can be sinful.
Eating dessert at the end of the meal purpose was so that it would remove the after taste of the main course. They did not have toothbrushes and toothpaste back then. That is also why fruits are eaten at the end of the meal. But if one would indulge in a meal consisting solely of desserts, there you have a clearer case of gluttony.
 
OKComputer said:
I view desserts and sweets the same way I view alcoholic beverages. There is nothing wrong with having one or two beers/glasses of wine/shots of whiskey, etc. It becomes a problem with you have 8 glasses of wine, two six packs, and a bottle of whiskey. There is a happy medium.
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@OKComputer

So, then, 2 glasses of wine, 8 six-packs, & only a quart of whiskey, instead of the 1/2 gal price-break size?
 
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