Stop what you’re doing and take a long, deep breath. Pause, unwind, and simply be. How are you feeling? If the answer is peaceful, happy, or relieved, you’ve just had a moment of mindfulness. The Harvard School of Public Health defines mindfulness as “an intentional focus on one’s thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations in the present moment.” Aside from the peace it brings, the beauty of mindfulness is that it can be experienced in any activity, not just traditional meditation. Mindfulness exists when you eat. Simply eating mindfully can provide numerous health benefits. Before discussing these advantages, let’s take a closer look at what it means to eat mindfully and how to practice it.
What Is Mindful Eating?
An article published in the US National Library of Medicine defines mindful eating as a food approach that focuses on “individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience with the food.” When we eat mindfully, we intentionally pay attention to our food, moment by moment, without judgment. It has little to do with calorie count or the amount of carbs, fat, or protein in the food.
Here Are Some Tips On How To Eat Mindfully:
According to Healthline, here are the fundamentals of mindful eating:
- Eat slowly and without distraction
- Listen to physical hunger cues and do not overeat
- Distinguish between true hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating
- Engage your senses by noticing the colours, smells, sounds, textures, and flavours of the food you eat
- Learn to cope with guilt and anxiety about food
- Notice the effects food has on your feelings and body
- Appreciate your food
What If We Don’t Eat Mindfully?
If you do not eat mindfully and instead eat mindlessly while driving, working, watching television, or scrolling through your phone, you may experience health problems. According to Harvard, distracted eating can lead to anxiety, overeating, and weight gain. Let’s take a look at the health benefits of mindful eating.
Health Benefits Of Eating Mindfully
- A 2017 review of 68 intervention and observational studies on mindfulness and mindful eating discovered that these strategies can help slow down eating, promote greater control over eating, and recognize feelings of fullness. Cambridge University Press published the research findings online.
- A 2015 randomized controlled trial of 194 obese adults followed them for 5.5 months to see how a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention affected their sweet food consumption and fasting glucose levels. The participants were divided into two groups and required to follow a diet-exercise program with or without mindfulness training (which included stress reduction, chair yoga, meditation, and affirmations). After 12 months, the mindfulness group demonstrated a decreased intake of sweets and the maintenance of fasting blood glucose.
- According to a 2021 review published in the ‘British Medical Bulletin’ journal, mindful eating can aid in weight loss by altering eating habits and lowering stress.