Perfecting The Art Of Mindful Eating!
Everyone knows that what we eat and how much we eat is critical, but how we process it is perhaps even more important. Through thousands of little sensors, the gut has the immense task of managing all the information contained in the food we intake.
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Mindful eating (i.e., paying attention to our food, on purpose, moment by moment, without judgment) is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food.
Unfortunately, high-quality and nutritive food alone will not promise a thriving gut. There is also an emotional component to this equation. If we are eating a nutritious and delicious meal but are filled with countless thoughts and emotions that distract us or eat while on the phone, with the TV on, and at our work desk, we’ll probably experience indigestion, pain, or nausea. There is reason to believe that eating while we’re emotional, confused, or simply distracted may slow down or stop digestion.
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When we feel an emotion intensely, such as stress or anxiety, our regular, mechanical, digestive process in the gut — which mostly works independently — will be influenced and altered. Stress hormones, such as adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol, will interact with the cells in our gut, making us alert and ready for fight or flight. By paying attention to our mental state when eating, we can improve our food processing. All of our body parts are connected to our emotions, but the gut sends the strongest signalling to our brain’s emotional centres.
It can be as simple as becoming more aware of the act of eating itself — including seeing, smelling, chewing, and swallowing. We can also extend our attentiveness to the influence food has on our bodies and mood. In fact, researchers have found that teaching such “mindful eating” skills can change bad eating patterns. Trials using the mindful eating approach have shown that participants significantly reduced compulsive eating habits, improved self-control, diminished depressive symptoms, lost weight, and maintained their weight loss for long periods of time.
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Ancient Indian nutrition philosophy advises us to drink our food and eat our water. What does that mean? Chewing each morsel of food about 32 times. When we do that the enzymes present in the saliva mix well with the food to form a semi-digested paste. The process of digestion has thereby started before the food has even left the mouth. For similar reasons, water should be sipped, not gulped. Consider this advice as a part of mindful eating.
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Consider experimenting with these mindful eating exercises:
- Begin eating only when you feel physically hungry. Ask yourself these questions.
- At what point do you feel like the food stops tasting as good as the first bite?
- When do you feel your hunger go away?
- When do you feel as if you could stop and go for a few hours with getting hungry again.
- Do you feel full?
- If not, do you feel like you need to feel full before you stop? Why or why not?
- Slow down while you are eating.
- Put your utensils down between bites. How does this affect your eating?
- Focus on the food in your mouth rather than the food you are planning to eat next. Does this make a difference in your eating?
- Alternate eating with you non-dominant hand. Does this work to help you slow down and pay more attention in your eating?
- Periodically pause during your meal to notice how hungry you still are and what you are thinking about. Is your mind on eating?
- Be mindful of the texture, colour and feel of the food.
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Mindful eating is a concept currently being studied to help individuals develop a more healthful relationship around food and eating.
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Mindfulness is being more aware without criticism or judgement. It is letting go of any negative thoughts or feelings surrounding foods and embracing the qualities or characteristics one enjoys. It also allows individuals to relearn how to listen and respond intelligently to internal cues of hunger and satiety, reduce binge eating, and be more accepting of his or her body. paying attention to all the details and layers of information involved in our eating, we can also awaken our gut senses — in turn helping us make better choices of the things we eat, and the amounts we eat in the future.
Recommended Reads!
Emotional Eating: What You Should Know
How to Make Mindful Eating a Regular Part of Your Diet
Very meaningful and helpful information by @fitrebel about mindful eating 👌👍
Pavanraj Patil, I am glad my article was of some help! Thanks for your appreciation!
Well written piece.
I feel these habits are easily inculcated in kids because they are naturally slow in their handling of food. In my observation, when they “play” with their food, they are in actuality tuning in to their digestive system and brain signals, such as enzyme production. We adults either rush them or overindulge their taste buds. Eating actually should’ve been a simple process 🙂
dsbhat, coming from a fellow blogger, this appreciation means a lot! Thanks for your kind words.