Mindfulness and healthy eating

Every week nutritionist and hypnotherapist Lowri Turner exclusively writes for WHL. This week she discusses the merits of mindfulness and healthy eating

Mindfulness: it’s the hot new concept that’s supposed to make you happier, less stressed and more productive. When it comes to healthy eating, mindfulness is undoubtedly useful. It can reduce over-eating and bingeing, improve digestion and help you make better food choices.

The idea of mindful eating is that you pay attention to your eating. Instead of wolfing down your dinner in front of the telly while texting your friends, you minimise distractions by switching off the TV or iPod. You make a point of being ‘in the moment’ and ‘fully present’ as you eat. You pause between bites, put your cutlery down and fully experience the sight, taste and texture of your food.

Mindful eating has the effect of slowing down your eating which is good for your digestion. It also allows you to be aware of how your body is feeling. You can ‘hear’ the signals that tell you when you’re full, so you stop eating earlier, meaning you eat less. So it can also be very good for weight loss.

You can extend the notion of mindful eating to your shopping and cooking, too. Instead of dashing round the supermarket, chucking ready meals into your basket, you make the time to visit farmers’ markets and healthfood stores to source healthy, sustainable produce. You then prepare it respectfully, cooking from scratch.

Of course this can all start to sound a bit goody-two-shoes Gwynneth Paltrow but, there is no doubt that the supers-peed, multi-tasking nature of many of our lives now doesn’t lead us to eat as well as we could.

The idea of mindful eating is actually not that new. Saying ‘grace’ before a meal, as many families used to do, is a way of being mindful. So was eating without distractions. When I was a child, the TV was switched off at mealtimes. Supper was at a table, not on the sofa. In a way, mindful eating is a step back in time.

It’s a healthier way to eat too. The opposite of mindful eating, is distracted and stressed eating and stress raises the level of the stress hormone cortisol, which slows down and can even stop digestion, causing fermentation and bloating. If you have IBS, for example, taking phone calls, watching an exciting movie or eating on the go can all make symptoms worse. Even a skin complaint like rosacea, which can be connected to poor digestion, could be made worse by stressed eating.

You may not think you’re quite up to the whole Gwynnie, sprouted mung bean and sitting cross legged lifestyle, but mindful eating is something we can all try. It’s such a simple concept that can overcome unhealthy and addictive eating patterns, reduce weight, improve health and actually help you feel good about yourself. Ok, switch off Eastenders and say ‘om!’