For many people who struggle with food and body weight, the simple solution may be learning to eat mindfully. For others, mindful eating may be one part of a multifaceted solution.
The benefits of mindful eating have been increasingly researched over the past 15 years, and the benefits of mindfulness meditation researched for twice that long. One syndrome that has been closely researched is binge eating disorder. Thus far, studies suggest that mindful eating can substantially reduce bingeing behaviors.
Eating mindfully also helps people to resolve food cravings. How? By helping to disrupt the (usually unconscious) link between one's eating urges and the resulting behaviors.
Mindfulness can also reduce emotional eating behaviors, because mindfulness has been well-demonstrated to improve mood states and to reduce stress generally. Mindfulness has even been shown to increase activity in the parts of the brain that are associated with happiness and optimism!
The practice can also help those who struggle with obesity. For example, the results of a 2009 study reported that "in those who applied the principles and practices of mindfulness consistently, there were greater increases in physical activity and significantly greater reductions in Body Mass Index."
No comments :
Post a Comment