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In a fast-paced world where we eat in front of screens, in the car, or while checking notifications, eating has stopped being a conscious experience and has become an automatic habit.
In this context, mindful eating has gained relevance as a practice derived from mindfulness that encourages us to reconnect with food through our senses, reducing stress and improving our relationship with our daily nutrition.
What is Mindful Eating and how does it work?
Unlike conventional diets focused on calorie counting or strict restriction, mindful eating promotes self-regulation based on actively listening to the body.
This practice aims to activate the parasympathetic nervous system response before and during meals, promoting a relaxed state that directly influences digestive processes and the release of satiety hormones such as cholecystokinin (CCK) and peptide YY.
The role of the five senses at the table
- Sight: Observe the colours and presentation. The cephalic phase of digestion begins with visual stimulation, preparing the body to produce saliva and gastric juices.
- Smell: Take in the aromas before taking a bite. The sense of smell is directly connected to the limbic system, influencing appetite and emotional memory.
- Touch: Identify the temperature and consistency of foods in your mouth or as you handle them.
- Hearing: Notice crunchy textures and the rhythm of your chewing. Eating at a faster pace is often associated with a lower perception of satiety.
- Taste: Identify sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami flavours individually.
Science-backed benefits of Mindful Eating
- Managing emotional hunger: It allows you to pause before acting on impulses associated with stress and reward responses and distinguish physiological hunger from hedonic desire.
- Better digestion: Chewing food properly and eating in a low-stress state may help reduce digestive discomfort such as indigestion, heaviness and abdominal bloating.
- Better satiety regulation: Satiety signals take time to develop during a meal. Eating more slowly can make it easier to recognise fullness and avoid unintentionally overeating.
- Adherence to nutritional plans: It helps move away from the idea of “good or bad foods”, potentially reducing episodes of overeating and the guilt that may follow.
4 Steps to practise Mindful Eating in your daily life
You don’t need hours of free time or complicated recipes to practise this technique, even if you eat from a lunchbox at the office:
1. Take a “Starting Pause”
Before your first bite, take 3 deep breaths. Look at your plate and assess your stress levels. This small ritual helps interrupt the momentum of the day and allows you to focus on your meal.
2. Identify the nature of your appetite
Before eating, ask yourself: Do I feel physical hunger, or am I looking for relief from an emotion? If the urge appears suddenly and involves a strong desire for a specific highly palatable food, it may be emotional hunger.
3. Minimise external distractions
Turn off the television and put your phone away during meals. Digital distractions can make it harder to pay attention to hunger and fullness cues, potentially encouraging mindless eating.
4. Take more time to chew
Try to increase the number of times you chew each bite. Put your cutlery down between bites to help slow down your eating pace.
Differences between Physical Hunger and Emotional Hunger
| Physical (Physiological) Hunger | Emotional (Hedonic) Hunger |
|---|---|
| Develops gradually and progressively. | Appears suddenly and feels urgent. |
| Can be satisfied by a variety of foods. | Craves specific foods (often sugary or high-fat options). |
| Is experienced as physical sensations of hunger. | Is experienced more as a mental urge or emotional need. |
| Subsides when an appropriate level of fullness is reached. | May persist even when the stomach feels full. |
| Does not usually cause feelings of guilt or frustration. | May be followed by feelings of regret. |
7-Day Challenge: Train your Mindful Eating skills
- Day 1 – 5 minutes of silence: Spend the first 5 minutes of your main meal in complete silence and without screens.
- Day 2 – Hunger scale (1 to 10): Rate your physical hunger before sitting down to eat.
- Day 3 – Sensory analysis: Eat a piece of fruit while consciously engaging all 5 senses.
- Day 4 – Put down your cutlery: Place your fork or spoon on the table after each bite until you have finished chewing.
- Day 5 – Sensations journal: Briefly write down how you feel physically after eating (heaviness, energy, fullness).
- Day 6 – 100% single-task meal: Eat an entire meal without any electronic devices or reading material.
- Day 7 – Gratitude check-in: Take 10 seconds before eating to appreciate where your food comes from and how it was prepared.
Integrating mindful eating into your routine is a gradual process. Start by applying one or two steps from this challenge and adjust the pace according to your daily needs.
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