Often times, what we choose to put into our bodies is an afterthought.
Whether we are feeling hungry, bored or even uninspired, we may make eating choices that upset our body’s natural flow, leading us to develop unhealthy eating habits such as binge-eating or obesity.
Instead of just eating to eat, we believe that getting familiar with the foods we choose to consume, such as identifying their weights, textures, smells, or sizes, is important for overall health and digestion, and can be done so through mindful eating.
Mindful eating pursues understanding, comfort and connection to the foods that we eat and can be very beneficial to our health and the ways in which we view food.
A recent study from Gettysburg University has found that mindful eating may stimulate weight loss and better eating choices.
This research was gathered from three separate studies.
The first two studies consisted of 120 people from around the United States. Each person was asked to complete the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale in order to measure their mindfulness, as well as an “uncontrolled eating test” which measured averages of uncontrolled eating habits.
Results from these two studies demonstrated that those who were more mindful engaged in less uncontrolled eating.
The third study was done as an extension to the first two, requiring 60 participants to take the MAAS and perform a mindfulness or control task, such as following an audio relaxation while laying down.
Following this, participants were asked to taste and rate junk foods and were not limited in the amount they could consume.
The results from the third study reported that those who participated in the mindfulness activity ate 24% less calories than the control group, demonstrating the benefits of mindful eating and its ability to aid with healthier eating choices.
To learn how to eat mindfully, enjoy our class Mindful Eating with CARAVAN teacher Liz.
References: Jordan, Christian H., et al. “Mindful eating: Trait and state mindfulness predict healthier eating behavior.” Personality and Individual differences 68 (2014): 107-111.