Mindful Eating is a Sure Shot Way to Good Health

Vanessa King, nutrition professor at American University is a keen advocate of “mindful eating" – which is ‘the how and why of eating - along with the what’. King says that mindful eating is important for well-being. Explaining her point, King says, "It's not that people ever thought that eating potato chips was good for them. That's not the point. So why do we eat potato chips? And after 20 chips, why are we still eating?”

Mindful-eating nutrition educators say that it is important for us to tune in to what we are eating. First getting to understand the triggers that cause us to eat – is it boredom, or low sugar that is causing you to eat? It is imperative we understand the way we respond to food.

Jean Kristeller, co-founder of the Center for Mindful Eating, says, "We all develop a lot of automatic patterns around eating. Eating everything on our plate is a perfect example of one of those patterns.

In order to do away with old patterns of eating, we must first know of their existence. Observing one’s eating patterns in a calm manner helps us understand our body better.

We also fail to feel satisfied if we eat too fast. Elise Museles, nutrition and eating psychology educator in Bethesda, said, “I find that for many of us, the biggest thing we're missing is what our body is telling us. Slowing down allows you to taste and feel textures, to feel full sooner with less."

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Source-Medindia