Mindful Eating
Nowadays because of our busy schedules we may many a times miss out on appreciating the food we eat and eat only for the sake of it. The food that we eat on the go which involves eating very fast and without thinking whether the food we have chosen to eat is tasting good or bad or fail to notice the texture of the food whether it is crunchy of soft, if the food is chewed well or just gulped down the throat. This is a classic example of mindless eating.
‘Mindful eating’ — as the name suggests is eating with our minds alert. It is also known as intuitive eating. It is a concept of eating with concentrating on food and being conscious while eating. It is based on the Buddhist idea of mindfulness. Mindfulness is defined as “bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment to moment basis” by experts, Marlatt & Kristeller (1999). While, experts Kabat and Zinn (2005) describe mindfulness as “an open hearted, moment to moment non-judgmental awareness”.
Thus mindful eating is paying our complete attention to the process of eating along with being aware of our senses and feelings at that moment. It is eating with awareness and eating without any disturbance by focusing on the food we eat.
Eating while doing other activities
What happens when — we watch television or a movie or work on a laptop or are busy on phone while eating. Instead of eating, the focus is shifted on to the other activity. In the bargain we may eat much more or even less than our requirement and without enjoying the various aspects of food consumption. This proves to be unhealthy. As this may lead to over eating, under nutrition, digestion related issues etc.
Consequences of eating fast
This will leave our taste buds craving for more as we keep food in our mouth for a very short while and thus the taste buds are not satisfied and crave for more and more food. In turn this may lead to over consumption of junk food and thus causing increased weight, obesity or cholesterol levels.
Mindful eating is mainly slowing down while having food. Slowly chewing every bite of food. Being aware of the taste and various flavors. Enjoying the texture, listening the mild crunch or letting the taste buds enjoy the burst of flavors, the juices and then swallowing the food.
Experts suggest that mindful eating aids in controlling portion size of foods we eat.
Benefits of Mindful Eating
· Weight Management
As discussed earlier, mindful eating helps in controlling portion size of the foods one eats and also, reduces the unnecessary overeating. Thus helps in managing weight. As a person slows down the pace of eating/chewing the foods, this helps our brain to sense the feeling of satiety.
The brain only registers the feeling of satiety post 20 minutes of food consumption. If we don’t take enough time to eat, till the time the brain senses fullness of stomach we have already eaten too much food. Now you know, why do you feel disturbed digestion or distension of stomach/ or heaviness sometimes after a while post your lunch or dinner.
· Healthy Choices
Some experts say that mindful eating helps in improving the choice of food. We tend to choose foods which are healthy if we practice mindful eating instead of junk foods.
· Helps maintain blood glucose and cholesterol levels
Studies suggest that eating mindfully helps maintain a control over blood glucose and cholesterol levels.
· Mindful Eating and Mental Wellbeing
A research states that there is a positive relationship between eating mindfully and maintaining mental health.
It may be used as an adjunct in treating a variety of eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa (binge eating) etc.
It helps to differentiate between emotional hunger and actual physical hunger.
How to practice mindful eating?
· Eating slowly and not hurrying while eating.
· Chew each and every bite properly, several times before swallowing it.
· Avoid any distractions while eating such as watching television, using computers, phones or any other such gadgets, listening to loud music etc.
· Avoid discussing work at the time of eating. Concentrate on food only. Ask yourself why am I eating? Am I really hungry or just sad/bored? If the answer is yes, ‘I am hungry/starting to get hungry’ go ahead.
· Appreciate the taste, texture, aroma, colour of the food. Emphasize on how you feel while eating it.
· Take small portion in your plates, do not fill your plate completely. If its nit enough, you can always help yourself with some more. While eating use small spoons or take small quantity into your mouth, eat it first and then move on to the next one. No need to stuff your mouth with too much food, this may make it difficult to chew and swallow and with some of us may lead to overeating!
· Try to shop and cook yourself. Even though it is brought or cooked by others think how the food must have been prepared, the time and effort and love that has been put into it and then eat it. This might stop you from eating foods prepared on streets/in unhealthy environment/the one with lot of fats/stale foods — which will in turn be good for your health.
· Start with only one meal or snack to practice mindful eating. Once you get a hang of it and are confident enough, move on to other meals.
· Once full, stop eating!
Hope these tips help you practicing mindful eating and thus help manage your health better.
Please Note
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References
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281406460X#
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21130363
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26867697
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485681/
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10640266.2011.533601
http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mindful-eating-guide#section9
