7 Benefits of Mindful Eating: Improve Weight Loss, Energy, and Digestion

How many of us eat mindlessly?

Because of the immense pressure we face today to be the most productive and efficient at our job, many of us eat mindlessly.  Today, we eat on the run, snack while standing, eat on our way to work, spend our lunch breaks in front of the computer. Sound familiar?

Not only have our eating practices changed, but how much and how frequently we eat has also altered. Instead of eating to nourish and to fuel our body, we eat for pleasure, out of stress or boredom.   

Practicing mindful eating can be one of the best ways of tackling over eating, improving digestion, regulating blood sugar and managing a healthy weight, and improve longevity. 

Mindful eating benefits

Implementing daily mindful eating practices ensures we eat consciously and in the present. That means you don’t over eat,  have better energy and stable blood sugar, and overall better mood. By eating mindfully, you also digest better —  reducing  indigestion e.g. bloating, reflux and gas, and better uptake of nutrients.  Because you took the time to eat, you feel more satiated, thus reducing binge eating and improving weight-loss.

What is mindful eating

Eating mindfully doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s focusing on food, eating in a calm environment, sitting down, and the most important chewing really well.

How to eat mindfully?

1. Chew well

This means to focus on chewing. That’s where digestion starts.Every bit is chewed until baby food consistency. Means we eat a lot slower, we digest our food better. End up eating less, helps us maintain a more balanced blood sugar. 

2. Set up your environment 

Eating in nature can really help to get you in a relaxed state. The sounds of water, the breeze, the waves, or birds are very calming. Being calm increases the release of digestive juices which not only helps with digestion but also helps to regulate satiety hormones – signalling your brain that you are full.

3.  Remove all distractions  

Put away the electronics, TV, computer. Try to take this time and hold space for 1 thing… eating.

4. Sit down & breathe 

Take a deep breath, centre yourself and enjoy the food in front of you. Take a minute to do some box breathing before you eat. You can use this time to express gratitude for all the participants in the growing, harvesting, cooking of your food. 

5. Eat in silence

Try to dedicate a part of that meal in silence. Definitely promotes mindfulness. Eating quickly leads to consuming larger quantities. To prevent, put your utensil down between each bite.

6. Acknowledge the flavours 

Acknowledging our feelings around food activates prefrontal cortex +
creates choice rather than uncontrolled reflex. Take in the food with all of
our senses – the visual appeal, the texture, try to identify the flavours as you chew slowly.

7. Listen to your body : eat until 80% full

The secret to healthy ageing is to eat to 80% full. Honouring that internal cue for when we’ve had enough. We can only do that when we are mindful while we are eating. If we are mindlessly eating, eating too quickly, we roll rightover that cue and that’s one way to eat too much!

 

 

Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17986602/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17986602/m