Combatting Obesity in America with Mindful Eating

Recently, health professionals uplifted mindfulness techniques and implemented into clinical settings as a method and process to raising awareness, curiosity, and openness.  Since 1999, when The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded its first three studies related to mindfulness, research in mindfulness and health exploded so much that by 2010, the NIH funded an additional 115 studies related to mindfulness. 

Over the past 20 years, obesity has become rampant in the United States.

Today, the obesity epidemic plagues one-third of the adult population and almost 20 percent of children and adolescents in the United States.  Obesity reflects a crisis of lifestyle, health, nutrition, and societal wellbeing.  Driven by increased levels of stress, decreased physical activity, and poor diet, obesity dramatically impacts an individual’s physical and mental wellbeing.  Treatments for obesity often lead to short-term lifestyle weight-loss interventions that combine diet, physical activity, and behavior change have modest success in the short-term.  However, in the long-term, most people tend to regain their initial weight.  And so you might be wondering, how can we treat obesity and sustain long-term results?  How can we train ourselves to eat well and in moderation?

In recent years, mindfulness-based nutritional interventions have ignited an innovative approach to treating obesity and promoting healthy living.  Mindful eating, as opposed to mindless eating, means taking the time to enjoy food, eat slowly and consciously, and experience each meal to the fullest.  

Mindful eating prevents binge eating and helps to bring awareness to the process of eating rather than falling into the fast-paced and distracted tendencies of American society.  As a holistic approach to relearning and reframing excessive eating and restoring proper weight and health, mindful eating is noninvasive and does not require medication or strict diets.

Mindful eating helps to regain awareness of our relationship with food.

Two recent studies show that mindfulness training effectively improves health and eating behaviors and reduces excess weight.  In a pilot study conducted by Dalen et al. (2010), the Mindful Eating and Living group curriculum produced marked improvements among the obese participants.  Researchers observed significant improvements in weight, behavior, and awareness, thus promoting mindfulness training as a positive and comprehensive approach to preventing and treating obesity.  

Daubenmier et al. (2011) studied the effect of a mindfulness intervention program on patients suffering from psychological stress and high cortisol and abdominal fat levels.  Using cortisol-awakening response (CAR) as a measurement of physical success and reported levels of anxiety, stress, and eating patterns, they conclude that over time, mindfulness training reduces abdominal fat.  Such research incites other health professionals, nutritionists, and researchers to pursue mindful eating in clinical settings and integrate mindful techniques into the treatment of obese patients.

Mindful eating can bring cessation to America’s obesity epidemic.

Mindful eating is an innovative approach to nourishing the body and mind through exploring an individual’s relationship with food.  In the United States, mindful eating proposes a holistic and sustainable approach to addressing the source of the growing obesity epidemic: what we eat and how we eat.  Through utilizing the positive mental and behavioral changes involved in mindfulness therapy and awareness, mindful eating has the potential to reduce overeating, slow down the fast-paced eating tendencies of American society, and decrease distracted and stress-response eating.   Mindful eating may be the key to ensuring long lasting nutritional health, conscientious diet management.

Works Cited:

Dalen, J, et al. 2010. "Pilot study: Mindful Eating and Living (MEAL): weight, eating behavior, and psychological outcomes associated with a mindfulness-based intervention for people with obesity." Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 18(6): 260-264.

Daubenmier, J, et al. 2011. “Mindfulness intervention for stress eating to reduce cortisol and abdominal fat among overweight and obese women: an exploratory randomized controlled study.” Journal of Obesity, 2011.

A Mind-Body Connection Through Food

What is your relationship with food?

For me, eating food means more than filling my belly; it means nourishing my mind and energizing my body. Meals are a time for restoration, rejuvenation, and most importantly, a time for meditation.

                                                                                                                               

Mindful eating means taking the time to enjoy your food, eating slowly and consciously, and experiencing your meal to the fullest.  Mindful eating is not about what food you eat, but rather, how you eat and what you think about while you eat.  It is eating without judgment.  It is channeling food as a way to embrace the mind-body connection. 

Mindful eating is the non-diet; it is meditative eating.

Buddhist teachings promote mindfulness as a way to improve emotional and physical health and wellbeing.  And when utilized through eating, mindful practices reduce binge eating and encourage enjoyment of the meal, one bite at a time.

As I begin a meal with the intention of being mindful, I allow my mind to settle and embrace the meal.  I let go of my pressing thoughts, and one-by-one, my to-do list fades away.  As I take one bite of a bowl of roasted vegetables, I focus on my senses, enjoying the flavor and texture and savoring the taste.  I savor silence.  I savor my state of being. 

On the other hand, were I to quickly gorge down a sandwich while walking to class and talking on the phone, I would not receive the same effects.  This is mindless eating.

Through slow, thoughtful eating, I allow myself to listen to my body.  How much food am I really craving?  What motivated me to eat this?  What is telling me I am hungry?  Is my body getting what it needs?  

Dedicate your mealtime to taking a step back and listening to your body.  Allow your mind (and stomach) to find balance between thought and awareness throughout your meal – but trust me, it is not as easy as it sounds.

Like most Buddhist teachings, practice brings fulfillment.  Through attempting mindful eating at least once a day we can change our brain and restore our mind-body connection.  We can learn to listen to ourselves, and thus heal ourselves.

How can mindful eating play a positive role in clinical treatment?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.7% of adults and 17% of children and adolescents in the United States are obese.  Additionally, it is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder.   The cost of treatment for over- and under-eating is much more expensive than eating mindfully.

And so you might be thinking, so what?  Maybe you’re not convinced that eating mindfully will aid in weight loss or treating eating disorders.  However, mindfulness practices have a deep history in promoting positive health, and recent studies show that interventions with mindfulness-based eating and lifestyle therapy can serve as a long-lasting treatment for people with obesity and eating disorders.

For the generalized American population, the relationship between eating and mental and physical health are constantly put into question.  Whether it is one’s ability to afford healthy food, desire to achieve an idolized body image, ability to slow down for a meal and resist the fast-food tendencies in society, or accept the challenge to listen to your body, we can greatly improve our eating habits by taking the time to eat mindfully.

By taking your time to eat a sandwich, drink mindful sips of tea in the morning, or eat a home-cooked meal, mindful eating can empower us all to truly savor our food and promote a healthy and fulfilling conversation between the mind and body.  Through silent meals and slow and conscious bites, we can begin to embrace mindful eating as a daily practice.

I leave you with a set of challenges.  I challenge you to attempt to eat mindfully at least once a day.  Let go of your mental suffering and explore ideas of compassion and rejuvenation.  And once you reap the personal benefits of mindful eating, I encourage you to teach others to eat intentionally and mindfully.  Through eating healthy and consciously we cannot only improve mental health, but also our physical wellbeing.