However, people with eating disorders should consult a certified healthcare professional for specialised guidance and support.

Mindful eating is a concept connected with the broader philosophy of mindfulness, which has been practised for over years. And why is it so important today? Well, the truth is, many of us have fallen into the habit of eating on autopilot. We rush through meals, often preoccupied with our thoughts or glued to screens, barely paying attention to the food in front of us.

Mindful eating is all about improving our eating experience. We become more aware of the entire process, taking the time to truly enjoy each bite. We start paying attention to the flavours, textures, and sensations that food brings to our bodies.

When we practice mindful eating, we become conscious of emotional connections to food. We bring awareness to how our emotions influence our eating behaviours and choices. Practising mindful eating offers a range of benefits that can positively impact our well-being and overall relationship with food.

It happens to all of us because eating has become such a mindless act. However, when we make the shift to mindful eating, something truly magical occurs. Unlike diets that solely focus on weight and often create narratives centred around body size, mindful eating takes a different approach.

It promotes freedom and encourages you to be present and engaged with your food without feeling guilty or judged. Having a non-judgmental attitude towards food, ourselves, and our emotions can help reduce stress levels.

Likewise, eating mindfully boosts self-esteem and encourages us to avoid distractions like social media, which may increase anxiety. When stressed, cortisol levels rise, increasing our appetite and potentially leading to overeating. As we discussed earlier, practising mindfulness exercises can help reduce the impact of this stress hormone.

It involves recognising the emotional triggers that drive our cravings and distinguishing between genuine physical hunger and emotional reactions. A study suggests that mindfulness meditation can help reduce binge eating and emotional eating in people who engage in these behaviours.

By developing this awareness, we can better understand and manage our relationship with food. When we eat mindfully, we take our time and slow down, allowing our bodies to chew and absorb nutrients properly. Research suggests that mindful eating can positively affect digestion and overall well-being.

As we discussed, mindful eating is about being present with our bodies and emotions while we eat. This approach helps reduce stress and maintain a balanced nervous system — essential for healthy digestion. By incorporating mindful eating into our routine, we can help our bodies to regulate the stress response and enhance digestive function.

Before you start eating, take a moment to check in with yourself. Notice any emotions or thoughts that arise. Are you feeling stressed, anxious, or happy?

Find a quiet and peaceful space to enjoy your meal by minimising distractions such as TV, phones, or work-related activities. Create an ambience that promotes relaxation and mindfulness. As you prepare your food or sit down for a meal, take a moment to observe the visual appeal of your plate.

Switch to intuitive eating, where you notice colours, shapes, and textures. Soak up the scent and appreciate the enticing aromas. Begin eating at a relaxed pace. Take small bites and chew slowly, paying attention to the taste and texture of the food.

Be fully present in the experience of eating and savouring each mouthful. Pause periodically during your meal to assess your level of hunger and fullness. Throughout the meal, be aware of any thoughts or cravings that arise. Instead of acting on them impulsively, observe them with curiosity and let them pass without judgment.

Express gratitude for the nourishment provided by the food. Reflect on the effort that went into its production, from the farmers to the cooks. Develop a deeper appreciation for the sustenance you receive.

Extend the principles of mindful eating to other food-related activities. Become more conscious of your snack choices, food preparation, and grocery shopping.

Bring mindfulness to every aspect of your relationship with food. Remember that mindful eating is a practice, and moments of mindlessness or slip-ups are okay. Approach yourself with kindness and compassion, letting go of any self-criticism or guilt associated with eating.

Come to the table with an appetite — but not when ravenously hungry. If you skip meals, you may be so eager to get anything in your stomach that your first priority is filling the void instead of enjoying your food.

Start with a small portion. It may be helpful to limit the size of your plate to nine inches or less. Appreciate your food. Pause for a minute or two before you begin eating to contemplate everything and everyone it took to bring the meal to your table.

Silently express your gratitude for the opportunity to enjoy delicious food and the companions you're enjoying it with.

Bring all your senses to the meal. When you're cooking, serving, and eating your food, be attentive to color, texture, aroma, and even the sounds different foods make as you prepare them.

As you chew your food, try identifying all the ingredients, especially seasonings. Take small bites. It's easier to taste food completely when your mouth isn't full.

Put down your utensil between bites. Chew thoroughly. Chew well until you can taste the essence of the food. You may have to chew each mouthful 20 to 40 times, depending on the food. You may be surprised at all the flavors that are released.

Eat slowly. If you follow the advice above, you won't bolt your food down. Devote at least five minutes to mindful eating before you chat with your tablemates. An increasing number of nutritionists and programs offer instruction in the technique, ranging from spiritual retreat centers to hospitals and medical centers.

A medically based program may even be covered by health insurance. The website of the Center for Mindful Eating www.

org lists coaches throughout the country. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

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Notice the sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and textures of the food and how you feel when eating. Pause periodically to engage these senses. Serve in modest portions. This can help avoid overeating and food waste. Use a dinner plate no larger than 9 inches across and fill it only once.

Savor small bites, and chew thoroughly. Eat slowly to avoid overeating. Going too long without eating increases the risk of strong hunger, which may lead to the quickest and easiest food choice, not always a healthful one.

Setting meals at around the same time each day, as well as planning for enough time to enjoy a meal or snack reduces these risks. Eat a plant-based diet, for your health and for the planet.

Consider the long-term effects of eating certain foods. Processed meat and saturated fat are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer and heart disease. Production of animal-based foods like meat and dairy takes a heavier toll on our environment than plant-based foods.

Watch: Practicing mindful eating Mindful eating starts with being conscious of every bite you take. Learn more about this practice and other mindful living approaches from the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health.

Are mindful eating strategies applicable in youth? It is likely that the way mindful strategies are presented to younger ages needs better understanding as it may be different than in adults. An example could be using new online technologies that are specific to their developmental age and learning ability.

The review also found that mindfulness in the form of meditation and mindful breathing can have significant effects on disordered eating through better stress management and reduced overeating caused by depression and anxiety.

Studies are still scarce in children, but novel programs are emerging. A pilot mindful eating intervention was tested in a low-income school in California involving third-through-fifth grade children including Hispanic and non-Hispanic children.

Surveys at the end of the program showed that the children and parents liked the activities, and there was an increase in parents serving nutritious meals and practicing mindfulness during meals e.

Mindful eating in context of COVID As COVID lockdowns began, reports of food stockpiling by consumers with trends toward shelf-stable, energy-dense comfort foods fueled concern that adults may increase their overall food intake during extended isolation, thus leading to weight gain.

If boredom or stress is the source, reroute your attention to an activity you enjoy, call a friend, or simply spend some time breathing. If you have a craving for comfort foods, pause and take a few in-breaths and out-breaths to be fully present with your craving.

Take a portion of the food from the container a handful of chips, a scoop of ice cream and put it on a plate. Eat mindfully, savoring each bite. Listen: Hear from Dr. Kelly Brownell.

References Fung TT, Long MW, Hung P, Cheung LW. An expanded model for mindful eating for health promotion and sustainability: issues and challenges for dietetics practice. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Hanh TN, Cheung L.

Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. HarperCollins Publishers. Stanszus LS, Frank P, Geiger SM. Healthy eating and sustainable nutrition through mindfulness?

Mixed method results of a controlled intervention study. Ogden J, Coop N, Cousins C, Crump R, Field L, Hughes S, Woodger N. Conventional diet culture causes much of our stress around eating, bringing a heap of pressure, intensity, and false expectations.

Consequently, many of us tend to view food as a reward or punishment. People obsessed with being thin might undereat and suppress feelings of hunger, whereas people who overeat might ignore feelings of fullness.

Moreover, when people internalize ideas built around dieting—buying into the marketing that suggests losing weight is as easy as —then the pressures and emotions are heightened. Mindful eating seeks to undo such thinking, encouraging us to let go of the traditional all-or-nothing mindset, and instead eat according to our natural body weight, not the body weight prescribed by magazine images and media-fueled pressure.

There is no strategy or calorie-counting involved. We are simply trying to be aware. Bringing mindfulness to the table means a kinder, gentler approach to eating. The problem, most scientists agree, is that it takes a good 20 minutes before that message is received. Therefore, much of our overeating happens during that minute window.

We learn, in effect, to be one step ahead of ourselves. So, when talking to our own children, we can use these same cues to show them how to listen their states of hunger and fullness rather than ignore them.

In its fullest sense, mindfulness means not only being present but also curious and interested, with a willingness to explore how and why we think and feel the way we do — without judgment.

This is no more apropos than when it comes to our eating habits. What does my body need? How satiated do I feel halfway through this meal?

Am I scarfing down my food or enjoying it? Is this portion too much or not enough? Awareness is something we can also bring to the supermarket and the kitchen. It helps us learn not to make choices that are automatically influenced by external thoughts, emotions, or impulses but instead by our own internal knowledge of what our bodies need.

The mind is powerful, and when left untrained, it can be a susceptible to both emotion and habit. We meditate to train the mind — to find the space to make better choices in the interests of our overall health, not our body shape or weight.

There is no one perfect way to eat in the same way that there is no one perfect body. We each have our own genetics, metabolisms, preferences, and priorities. Some of us gorge; some of us graze. Some snack; some comfort eat.

Some undereat; others overeat. Some are gym bunnies obsessing about stacking on the pounds while others are diet junkies, obsessing about losing the pounds. Knowing who we are — and being honest with ourselves — helps us understand why we eat the way we do. The more we recognize those early influences, the better positioned we are to decide what and when we choose to eat.

For people who undereat, the effect of this awareness may be that they may eat more; for people who tend to overeat, they may consume less.

Others may find their eating patterns remain the same while their thinking around food changes. In this respect, mindful eating is an equalizer, allowing us to find a balance in how we relate to food. We each have our own attitudes and patterns of behavior around food, whether this is due to genetics, circumstances, or family conditioning.

Awareness of those origins provides the foundation for mindful eating, but the only way to understand our relationship with food is to spend time with that relationship. Mindfulness inserts a pause to help us be aware of our own decision-making.

Only when we stop to notice this chain of events can we start to change our behavior or thinking about food. This is a skill mindfulness affords, meaning we can consider our food selections in advance. In bringing more planning to our grocery list, restaurant menu, or kitchen, we are less inclined to feel any guilt or shame about our balanced choices.

In observing the mind in this way, we can free ourselves from emotions that fuel our habits. Imagine what it would be like to no longer be led by our inner dialogue around food.

Imagine instead having a more balanced, carefree attitude, freed from the shackles of poor eating habits. As we step away from all the unhealthy thinking around food, we cultivate a sustainable and balanced approach to the way we eat and the way we look.

Essentially, we get to re-educate ourselves. We get to enjoy our food again. Lilian Cheung, a nutritionist and lecturer at Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health. Mindfulness means focusing on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.

It also encompasses how what you eat affects the world. We eat for total health," Dr. Cheung says. That's essentially the same concept that drove the development of the pro-posed U. Dietary Guidelines, which, for the first time, considered sustainability of food crops as well as the health benefits of the foods.

Although the ideal mindful-eating food choices are similar to the Mediterranean diet — centered on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and vegetable oils — the technique can be applied to a cheeseburger and fries.

By truly paying attention to the food you eat, you may indulge in these types of foods less often. In essence, mindful eating means being fully attentive to your food — as you buy, prepare, serve, and consume it.

However, adopting the practice may take more than a few adjustments in the way you approach meals and snacks. In the book Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life and companion website, www.

com , Dr. Cheung and her co-author, Buddhist spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh, suggest several practices that can help you get there, including those listed below.

Begin with your shopping list. Consider the health value of every item you add to your list and stick to it to avoid impulse buying when you're shopping. Fill most of your cart in the produce section and avoid the center aisles—which are heavy with processed foods — and the chips and candy at the check-out counter.

Come to the table with an appetite — but not when ravenously hungry. If you skip meals, you may be so eager to get anything in your stomach that your first priority is filling the void instead of enjoying your food. Start with a small portion. It may be helpful to limit the size of your plate to nine inches or less.

Appreciate your food. Pause for a minute or two before you begin eating to contemplate everything and everyone it took to bring the meal to your table. Silently express your gratitude for the opportunity to enjoy delicious food and the companions you're enjoying it with.

Bring all your senses to the meal. When you're cooking, serving, and eating your food, be attentive to color, texture, aroma, and even the sounds different foods make as you prepare them. As you chew your food, try identifying all the ingredients, especially seasonings.

Take small bites. It's easier to taste food completely when your mouth isn't full.