A relaxed relationship with food
Perhaps you know it: you eat a few liquorices, a bag of chips or a bar of chocolate without any thought. A shame, because you don’t really taste what you eat and you quickly eat too much. And afterwards you regret. There is a solution: eating mindfully, or mindful eating.
How and why?
Mindful eating is not about what you eat, but how and why you eat. So awareness. And eat mindfully. Try not to take the next bite until you really can’t taste the previous one in your mouth. You will notice that your eating pace decreases greatly as a result. And that has advantages. Eating too greedily is associated with all kinds of health problems, such as obesity, stomach complaints and type 2 diabetes.
The role of hormones
When you eat slowly, you help your satiety system. For example, it takes about 20 minutes before a signal goes to your brain that you have eaten enough. If you eat slowly during those 20 minutes, you can ensure that you have not eaten too much before those 20 minutes are up. Fat cells and hormones play a role in this system. When the fat stock in your body increases, your adipose tissue produces more leptin, a fat-breaking protein. Leptin goes to the satiety center in your brain stem. And that is a signal to your body that the fat stores are large enough and that you do not need to eat more. So your feeling of hunger decreases. Furthermore, the hormone PYY plays a role in the satiety system. This hormone suppresses appetite. Your small intestine produces PYY when it has to digest food. In addition, the first part of your small intestine produces the hormone CCK when food passes by. CCK also inhibits the feeling of hunger by stimulating the satiety center in the brain stem.
vibrating fork
There are also aids that affect your eating speed. Like this researched behavioral scientist Sander Hermsen (VU Amsterdam) or a fork that gives feedback on eating speed by vibrating, can prevent you from eating too fast. The vibrating fork appears to work: the eating speed decreased in people who used the fork. The number of bites per minute dropped from an average of about six bites to four to five bites. Participants also lost an average of almost three kilograms after 12 weeks of use. According to the researcher, the effect of the fork is mainly due to the fact that the fork provides the feedback exactly when it is needed, and that you can act immediately when you feel a vibration.
Test with a raisin
Such a fork can create awareness, but you can also use it yourself. The Raisin Exercise is a well-known exercise in mindfulness. It engages all the senses and you eat with attention. First look at the raisin and see the color, texture, size… And smell it too. What do these first two steps do to you? Is your stomach rumbling, do you already want to taste? If you bring the raisin to your mouth, you can also observe. Because how quickly do you want to put the raisin in your mouth? Then taste the raisin, chew it, feel the structure in your mouth. If you don’t eat with attention, you will swallow the raisin at lightning speed. The trick is not to do that right away, but to chew well and experience what happens in your mouth. Finally, you swallow the raisin.
Wait a minute
You can also apply this with mindfulness during your regular meals or eating moments. Also check your cup of soup, salad or piece of chocolate. Smell it and chew it well. This all works best if you take care of few distractions. So no newspaper, TV or telephone next to your plate. Also put down your fork regularly in between or make it a habit to stick something new on your fork only after you have swallowed the previous bite. This way you are more aware of the bite in your mouth and not all attention is already focused on the next bite while you are still chewing.
No counting calories and nothing is forbidden
Mindful eating is also a friendly way of eating. You don’t have to count calories, carbohydrates or fats. And chocolate, chips and a pizza are also possible, as long as you consciously enjoy them. This is especially possible if you eat mindfully and do not eat your food unnoticed. Eating the pizza in front of the TV out of the box? When you eat mindfully, you sit down at the table and put the pizza on a plate. Did you eat it all up before? You will find that you automatically take less of it when you eat slowly. Ultimately, that can cause you to lose weight, but it’s mainly about the healthy and happy relationship that you can have with food.
