Mindful Eating & Gut Health
Let’s talk a bit about eating mindfully, it can be a challenge especially in our busy and chaotic world to focus on your food at mealtimes. By reading this post you will learn what mindful eating is, benefits of mindful eating in relation to gut health, and a mindful eating exercise you can try at the end. I hope this helps you build a healthy relationship with food!
What is mindful eating:
Mindful eating is basically placing your full attention on your food when you eat. You can focus on your body sensations, taste, texture, and thoughts around food while you are eating. It is mostly about being aware and mindful in the present moment so you eat when you are subtly hungry stop eating when you are comfortably full. That means not eat distracted, like watching TV while eating, going on Instagram, or rapidly trying to scarf down food while driving.
Benefits of mindful eating:
Focus on the taste and appreciate your meal
Better able to recognize when you are full
Able to slow down when eating which optimizes digestion (less bloating, gas, cramping, pain)
Get in touch with your body and notice how you feel after certain foods
When you eat mindfully you naturally are in a calmer state and this helps support stomach acid release and your pancreatic enzyme release which helps you breakdown and digest your food
Why do it?
Mindful eating is a helpful method if you want to be more attuned to your body and find a sustainable way of eating for your body. It can help prevent bloating, stomach pain, and burping that comes with over eating or eating too quickly. Many people I have worked with fell into a pattern of not eating enough during the day, came home starving, and began to overeat and eat fast because they were so hungry in the evening. My recommendation is to eat more regularly, about every 3 to 4 hours and eat when you feel hungry (not starving), this prevents overeating. Over eating, especially in the evening, can affect your quality of sleep and slow digestion potentially causing GI symptoms.
When to eat? (hunger cue)-
You should be eating when you are feeling subtly hungry, so hungry but a polite hunger not an intense and ravenous hunger. If you are feeling bloated throughout the day it may be hard to tell when you are hungry (I know I’ve been there!). If that is the case then notice the time you last ate and look for other signs of hunger like headaches, irritability, sudden fatigue or feeling lethargic,or an increase in anxiety. If it has been over 4-5 hours since you last ate and you have those other signs of hunger then it’s time to eat.
When to stop eating? (fullness cue)-
You should stop eating when you are feeling comfortably full, not stuffed or the feeling that you have to unbutton your pants, but a satisfied content feeling. If you eat too quickly you can bypass that subtle cue and are more likely to get to the point of uncomfortable fullness. Aim for about 70% full- content but there is a little wiggle room.
***If your hunger and fullness cues are so altered by discomfort or bloating then I recommend timing out your meals so you can stick to a schedule first.
How to practice mindful eating:
When you start eating, eat slow so you can tell when you are comfortably full. It typically takes about 15-20 minutes for your brain to tell your stomach that you are full. If you eat too fast then you can miss the subtle cue from your body telling you that you are full. It is okay to eat half of your plate then put your fork down and continue to eat once you notice you are hungry again. Another thing you can practice if you are a fast eater is to count 20-25 chews per mouthful to help slow down.
Mindful Eating Exercise:
Day 1:
Rank your hunger from 1-10 before eating (1 being starving/ravenous)
Eat your meal how you typically would
When full rank your fullness from 1-10 (10 being stuffed)
Do you feel uncomfortably full, neutral, or still hungry?
Did you do an activity while eating (phone, TV, etc.)?
Day 2:
Rank your hunger from 1-10 before eating (1 being starving/ravenous)
Chew 20 bites per mouthful and focus on food while eating
When full rank your fullness from 1-10 (10 being stuffed)
Do you feel uncomfortably full, neutral, or still hungry?
Did you do anything while eating (phone, TV, etc.)?
