Skylar Maurice, Staff Writer

Eating is something that people do on a daily basis in their lives. They may eat out at a restaurant or decide to cook a meal at home. Nevertheless, when eating a meal, many people are not mindful of it. Mindful eating is a type of eating that involves being aware of how you are feeling instead of what the food actually is. Mindful eating can be beneficial for people in ways such as digestion, supporting weight management and lessening yo-yo dieting. 

Mindful eating is a type of practice. According to The Whole U, the practice entails being completely present and open-minded when eating snacks and meals. It is also a practice that incorporates every sense, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to bodily cues. These cues include hunger and can help people decide how much they need to eat. These cues can also signal how full your stomach is and what foods are appetizing. 

One of the benefits of mindful eating includes helping a person’s digestion. According to health.clevelandclinic, enzymes in a person’s mouth are present when people chew and aid in digestion. Mindful eating supports chewing food meticulously and eating it steadily. This causes people to digest food in both an adequate and prompt manner. 

Another benefit of mindful eating is supporting weight management. When people listen to their body’s internal indications, they are able to develop healthier food management techniques.  Mindful eating helps people to calculate their hunger based on what the body is saying to them instead of calculating hunger based on how many calories you eat. Integrating these eating patterns can help people realize that the food is not as appealing as it appears to the brain.

Moreover, another benefit is lessening what’s called ‘yo-yo’ dieting. According to bite out of life nutrition, diets that are a type of “swift fix” do not work in the long term. Small successes can be found in the short-run, a likely result of diets that restrict the amount of food people consume. A large number of people that diet, however, wind up gaining back the weight they lost. 
Additionally, this type of eating can be practiced. According to Healthline, people can begin mindful eating through simple measures. One of the ways include eating at a slower pace and not rushing. Another way is by concentrating on the way the food you’re eating makes you feel. People can also ask themselves a series of questions before eating including why they are deciding to eat and if they are actually hungry. People may also sit in an assigned area such as a dining room or kitchen. This can replace sitting in front of your television or desk to eat a meal, which in turn can make the mundane routine of eating more elaborate and thoughtful.