Last Updated on 07/21/2024 by Jonathon

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to rush through meals, barely pausing to taste or enjoy our food. You eat on the go, distracted by screens or thoughts of what’s next on your to-do list. But what if you slowed down, savored each bite, and truly connected with your food? That’s the essence of mindful eating, a transformative practice that can revolutionize your relationship with food and your overall well-being.

What is Mindful Eating?

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health defines mindful eating as “using all of your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make” (“Mindful Eating”). At its root, mindful eating is about bringing awareness and intention to the act of eating. It involves paying full attention to the sensory experience of food, including its taste, texture, smell, and even the sounds it makes as you chew. More importantly, mindful eating also involves tuning into your body’s hunger and fullness cues and eating with awareness of physical sensations rather than external cues or emotional triggers. In short, I would call mindful eating thinking about the food you eat, why you are eating it, and how it feels for you to eat it… before, during, and after eating.

The Benefits of Mindful Eating

The benefits of mindful eating extend far beyond simply enjoying our meals more fully. I’ve observed that by deliberately slowing down my eating pace and concentrating on thoroughly chewing my food before swallowing, I not only derive greater emotional pleasure from the meal, but I also find the food to be more satiating. This approach leads to consuming less while feeling fuller for a longer period. 

This revelation came to me during my undergraduate studies at Eastern Kentucky University, thanks to a nutrition professor. She assigned us a task to chew each bite of our food at least 100 times before swallowing, to be completed throughout the entire day. Despite the assignment initially seeming somewhat trivial (and admittedly leaving my jaw sore), it effectively underscored the importance of mindful eating. Research has shown that practicing mindful eating can:

  1. Improve Digestion: By chewing food slowly and thoroughly, you aid the digestive process and allow your body to better absorb nutrients. Mindful eating also reduces the body’s stress response, helping to encourage the body to rest and digest (Cherpak 52).
  2. Promote Healthy Weight Management: Mindful eating encourages you to eat in response to physical hunger rather than emotional triggers, helping you avoid overeating while making healthier food choices. Overall, by increasing your focus on these things, mindful eating results in weight-loss (Cherpak 50).
  3. Enhance Satisfaction: When you eat mindfully, you’re more likely to feel satisfied with smaller portions, as you’re fully present and attentive to the experience of eating. Furthermore, it has been suggested that eating mindfully also increases your overall satisfaction with the food that you eat (Hong et al) and other studies have shown that mindfulness raises the enjoyment of tasting food (Arch et al) – possibly opening up the usefulness of mindful eating to you picky eaters out there! Mindful eating can also have a positive benefit on body image, as one study showed that even practicing a short mindful eating session after a meal increased body satisfaction in female university students (Tsai et al).
  4. Reduce Stress: Mindful eating can help reduce both physiologic and emotional stress (Cherpak 50) by promoting relaxation and presence during meals. Additionally, one survey with 309 respondents showed that there was a strong relationship between mindful eating and mental wellness (Kahn and Zainab 69).
  5. Foster a Positive Relationship with Food: By approaching food with curiosity, compassion, and non-judgment, you can cultivate a healthier and more balanced relationship with eating – this is because mindful eating can increase your satisfaction with food and lead to lower consumption, including of junk foods (Arch et al).

How to Practice Mindful Eating

Ready to give mindful eating a try? Remember that there is no right or wrong way to mindfully eat, but here are some simple steps I suggest you incorporate into your daily routine:

  1. Set the Stage: Create a peaceful eating environment free from distractions. Turn off screens, put away phones, and sit down at a table if possible. Using screens while eating significantly reduces the cues your body sends to regulate food intake (Tabares-Tabares et al), leading to over-eating.
  2. Pause and Reflect: Before you begin eating, take a moment to pause and check in with yourself. Notice any physical sensations of hunger or fullness, as well as any emotions or thoughts that may be present.
  3. Engage Your Senses: As you eat, bring awareness to the sensory experience of your food. Notice the colors, textures, smells, and flavors with each bite, savoring the moment.
  4. Chew Slowly: Take your time to chew each bite slowly and mindfully, allowing yourself to fully experience the taste and texture of the food. Be aware that studies have suggested that chewing for longer lowers appetite and food intake while increasing satiety (Miquel-Kergoat et al).
  5. Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to your body’s hunger and fullness signals throughout the meal. Eat until you’re satisfied, not stuffed, and honor your body’s needs without judgment or restriction.

By incorporating these simple practices into your meals, you can cultivate a deeper sense of presence, gratitude, and nourishment with each bite.

Reflecting on my days as a Paramedic, I vividly recall the routine of hurriedly consuming meals, anticipating the next emergency call. Meals were a means to an end, devoid of enjoyment, merely fuel for the demanding shifts ahead. This habit, albeit less frequently, has persisted into my career as a Physician Assistant, especially during days brimming with patient appointments and brief lunch breaks. This approach to eating is far from ideal. I’ve noticed a stark contrast on days when I eat mindfully, sans distractions. Those moments, spent at the kitchen table, savoring each bite, transform my meals. Suddenly, flavors burst forth, offering a brief respite akin to a midday vacation. Embracing mindful eating turns even the most mundane meals into a memorable, tranquil escape from the week’s hustle. I highly recommend giving it a try.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, mindful eating is much more than a dietary trend; it’s a transformative practice that enriches your relationship with food, enhances your physical and emotional well-being, and brings joy into every meal. Whether you’re a busy professional, a student, or anyone in between, incorporating mindful eating into your daily routine can lead to profound shifts in how you experience eating and how you relate to your body and food. Remember, the beauty of mindful eating lies in its simplicity and the personal space it creates for reflection and enjoyment, making every meal an opportunity for nourishment and mindfulness. Start small, be patient with yourself, and savor the journey towards a more mindful way of eating and living.

Here’s to mindful eating and vibrant well-being!

P.S. Interested in embracing a more mindful and fulfilling lifestyle beyond just your meals? Join the Dream Root Wellness Network, our online wellness community, and get exclusive access to our wellness-based Core Content, including the Dream Root Wellness Philosophy and the Evergreens of Wellness courses – everything you need to live a better life. Join today to embark on a journey towards enhanced wellness and purposeful living!

Works Cited:

  1. Arch, Joanna J., et al. “Enjoying Food without Caloric Cost: The Impact of Brief Mindfulness on Laboratory Eating Outcomes.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, Pergamon, 22 Feb. 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796716300237.
  2. Cherpak, Christine E. “Mindful Eating: A Review of How the Stress-Digestion-Mindfulness Triad May Modulate and Improve Gastrointestinal and Digestive Function.” Integrative Medicine (Encinitas, Calif.), U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219460/.
  3. Hong, Phan Y., et al. “Mindfulness and Eating: An Experiment Examining the Effect of Mindful Raisin Eating on the Enjoyment of Sampled Food – Mindfulness.” SpringerLink, Springer US, 16 Nov. 2012, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-012-0154-x.
  4. Kahn, Zaynah, and Zainab F Zadeh. “Mindful Eating and It’s Relationship with Mental Well-Being.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Elsevier, 1 Jan. 2015, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281406460X.
  5. “Mindful Eating.” The Nutrition Source, Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, 14 July 2023, www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/mindful-eating/#:~:text=Eating%20mindfully%20means%20that%20you%20are%20using%20all,food%2C%20which%20can%20improve%20the%20overall%20eating%20experience.
  6. Miquel-Kergoat, Sophie, et al. “Effects of Chewing on Appetite, Food Intake and Gut Hormones: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Physiology & Behavior, Elsevier, 15 July 2015, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938415300317.
  7. Tabares-Tabares, Marcela, et al. “Screen Use during Food Consumption: Does It Cause Increased Food Intake? A Systematic Review.” Appetite, Academic Press, 17 Jan. 2022, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666322000198.
  8. Tsai, Alice, et al. “The Differential Effects of Mindfulness and Distraction on Affect and Body Satisfaction Following Food Consumption.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 14 Sept. 2017, www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01696/full.

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