Can Mindfulness Solve Eating Problems?

‘Awareness’ shows that the mind is fully interested in what is happening, what you are doing, the area in which you move. ‘Mindfulness’ in return refers to the awareness of the moment and our current experience. Our minds wander, lose contact with our bodies and suddenly get distracted with something new or start worrying about the future. Awareness is the essential human ability to be fully present, be aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not be overstimulated or overwhelmed with things happening around us.Mindfulness practices have helped millions of people live more consciously and develop the skills needed to manage chronic pain, illness, depression, sleep problems, and anxiety. Mindful eating has also become the focus of an eating approach with what it takes to change one’s general approach to nutrition. It’s without a doubt that diets are futile when not backed with behavioral change. Although we emphasize studying diets to determine which ones are most effective, each time we encounter the same answer: they are all effective in the short term, but not as much in the long term.Awareness is a process-oriented behavior rather than a result-oriented one. It is based on an individual’s current experience. The individual focuses on appreciating the food experience and is not interested in limiting intake. The person who eats mindfully chooses what to consume and how much. It is no coincidence that in a careful approach, one’s choices are usually to eat less, enjoy eating more, and choose foods that provide the desired health benefits.Mindful eating (i.e. deliberate, moment-to-moment, without judgment) is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensory awareness of food and their food experiences. It has little to do with counting calories, carbohydrates, fats or protein. The purpose of mindful eating is not to lose weight, yet those who adopt mindful eating habits are likely to lose weight. The aim is to help individuals enjoy the moment and their food and encourage them to be fully present for the eating experience.

Distracted Eating versus Mindful Eating

Distracted eating happens when your mind is anywhere else but the food in front of you and it’s the opposite of mindful eating where you focus on your food, eating style and make healthy choices. Careless and distracted eating happens not only to adults but also to children. Distractions can come from TV, mobile devices, or video games.Hunger isn’t the only thing that affects how much we eat during the day. Attention and memory also play a role. Being distracted or not paying attention to a meal can cause you to eat more than when you focus on your meal. Furthermore, it takes an average of 20 minutes after you start eating for the brain to start sending the message that you are no longer hungry and turn off the appetite. When you rush your meals, you can get many more calories than you need in 20 minutes.So here is the quick neuroscience of hunger and fullness: There are two brain regions responsible for taste perception: the insula and the orbitofrontal cortex. The first zone defines the taste quality (sweet, salty, sour, or bitter) and intensity and communicates with the orbitofrontal cortex, which assigns a reward value associated with taste. Research reveals that the way our brains process information can be affected by distraction. If you are distracted while eating, your brain may not process taste information properly and transmit it to your memory bank. Thus, you forget you have eaten and are likely to eat more frequently.

Easy Mindfulness Practices You Can Try Anywhere

• Start with your shopping list. Consider the health value of each item you add to your list and stick to it to avoid impulsive purchases when shopping for food.
• Come to the table with an appetite – but don’t wait until you’re too hungry. Set your hunger level and rate it from 1 to 10. Eat when your hunger level is between 5 and 6. It’s okay to feel hungry, but don’t let it come to the point of extreme hunger. If you skip meals, you may get so eager to get something in your stomach that your priority is to fill the void rather than enjoy the meal.
• Appreciate your food. Before you start eating, wait for a minute or two to think about everything and everyone that brought your food to your table. Think about how the food came to your table: how it was grown, who handled it, how it got to the shop where you bought it. Bring all your senses to the food, color, texture, aroma, and even its sounds. Try to describe all the ingredients, especially the spices, as you chew your food. Quietly express your gratitude for the opportunity to enjoy delicious food and the friends to enjoy the food with.
• Take small portions and small bites. It is easier to taste food better when your mouth is not entirely stuffed. Take your time in between bites.
• Chew well. Chew your bites thoroughly until they get a liquid texture and you taste the essence of the dish. Depending on the food, you may have to chew each bite 20 to 40 times. You may be surprised at all the flavors that come out. Chewing well is the most critical step of mindful eating.
• Be aware of your cravings. We all crave certain foods sometimes. You may want salty foods or sweets when you are feeling blue, tired, or stressed. Often when we are bored, we need to eat to give us something to do. These kinds of desires arise from our emotions. While sometimes it’s okay to have these desires, it’s often better to address why we feel this emotion and find other ways to resolve it. Sometimes our cravings are the way our bodies tell us that we need a particular nutrient. Maybe you’re craving bananas because your body needs some potassium or avocados because your body wants protein and iron. Healthy cravings make us realize why we eat.
• The end goal is to eat the right food in the right amounts for our body to do its job. We can begin by responding to what our bodies are really hungry for and identify when we feel full. We can enjoy eating again and eliminate the need to overeat. Do not focus on whether a food is “good” or “bad” – just eat consciously.