What is mindful eating?

Eating mindfully means being aware of every bite we eat to taste more and eat less.¹ While we are eating, most of us are thinking about what we need to do tomorrow, what happened yesterday, or what channel to watch on television. When we “stay in the moment” and focus our attention on the food we eat, we can do the following:

• cut down on portions
• avoid stress eating
• realize when we feel full
• stop eating when we aren’t hungry²

How can eating mindfully help me?

There are many reasons to eat mindfully. For example:

• It can lead to positive and lasting change.
• Food becomes something to enjoy, instead of a temptation or regret.³
• Mindful eating slows down the pace of your meals. Your brain will then have time to hear the “I’m full” signals from your stomach. This may help with maintaining a healthy weight.
• It aids in digesting food. Research has found that when we do not focus on our eating, we do not digest our food as well. This can lead to gas, bloating, and discomfort.⁴
• Mindfulness can help you pay attention to where your food comes from. This might help you buy healthier foods, including local and/or organic options.

How does the brain respond to unhealthy foods?

A little later, we’ll discuss ways that you can pay more attention to what you eat. Before we do that, it is important to understand how your emotions affect the way you eat. And you’ll learn how the way you eat changes the chemical makeup in your brain.

Your brain rewards you by releasing hormones like dopamine and adrenaline when you eat high-fat and high-sugar meals. In this way, your brain reacts the same way to unhealthy foods as it would to drugs like alcohol and heroin.⁵ And just like with drugs, you can become addicted to unhealthy foods over time. You then crave unhealthy foods and eat more food overall to satisfy these cravings. Over time, more changes happen in your brain, and you can become less thoughtful about the foods you eat as a result.