Today we are going to look at Mindful Eating
Mindful eating
Do you ever consider mindful eating? It is something defintely worth considering.
Got a jam packed schedule with no time to focus on what you’ll be having for lunch? Share a love-hate relationship with food? Mindful eating is just a branch of mindfulness that helps you tackle all of that and more. You’ll notice better energy levels, better mood and a healthier digestive system by practising eating mindfully.
Sounds interesting right? Keep reading to discover how exactly mindful eating helps.
Healthy Relationship with Food
Those suffering from chronic eating problems such as bulimia, anorexia and guilt eating can actually benefit a lot from mindful eating. Being more aware of the food that you eat can help you understand how food is an essential part of your life, and that you need to eat it in the right amounts, and how choosing the right foods can change the way you look and feel.
You’ll find that you’ll be less likely to overeat or undereat, and you’ll actually enjoy the food that you eat, instead of just scarfing it down for the sake of it.
Improved Mood with mindful eating
Practising this kind of eating has been found to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system which improves your state of mind into a more optimistic one. When you take the time to watch, smell, taste and chew every bite of food that you take, you’ll be much more aware of how you feel as well, which will in turn, help your mood transition into a better one.
Reduced Stress
The fact that mindful eating could actually affect your stress levels may seem too far fetched, but that’s true. Believe it or not, it is actually a sort of meditation, and when you’re in a more relaxed state of mind, you’ll find yourself having better control over your emotions and feelings, and you’ll be much less likely to feel stressed out, and yes, this has been backed by studies as well.
Better Weight Control when eating with mindfulness
Several studies have shown how practising mindfulness, specifically when it comes to eating can have a very significant impact on an individual’s weight control efforts. If you’re one of those who tend to binge eat or indulge in unhealthy foods as a coping mechanism for certain emotions, or have an unhealthy relationship with food and your body in general, mindful eating can really help turn things around for the better. Quite frankly, mindful eating is actually a great way of practising self-control when it comes to food.
Improved Digestion with mindful eating
This may sound surprising, but it is actually true! Eating more mindfully and consciously allows your gut to utilize the nutrients from the food that you eat much more effectively. This means you’ll be able to get the best out of the food on your plate, which ultimately has a solid impact on your overall health. Plus, the friendly bacteria in your gut are able to thrive better. In addition, it has also been found to help reduce the levels of fasting blood glucose and triglycerides, which in turn, have a positive effect on your overall health.
I hope this post has helped you explore the benefits of mindful eating. You might also be interested to read my post on conscious consumption
