August 6, 2011

This summer if you want to lose weight to fit into your favorite bathing suit, a July 2011 article in Harvard Health Letter suggests learning how to eat mindfully may help. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that practices awareness of present-moment experiences with a compassionate and non-judgmental attitude. When applied to eating, mindfulness involves slowing down the eating process, paying attention to the smells, colors, textures of the food, eliminating distractions such as television and reading, and reducing guilt and anxiety about eating.

The article states that a small yet growing body of research suggests that a slower, more thoughtful way of eating could help with weight problems, and briefly discusses why slowing down the eating process is important on a physical level.

“Digestion involves a complex series of hormonal signals between the gut and the nervous system, and it seems to take about 20 minutes for the brain to register satiety (fullness). If someone eats too quickly, satiety may occur after overeating instead of putting a stop to it.”

“There’s also reason to believe that eating while we’re distracted by activities like driving or typing may slow down or stop digestion similar to how the “fight or flight” response does. And if we’re not digesting well, we may be missing out on the full nutritive value of some of the food we’re consuming.”

According to the article, experts suggest that those interested in eating mindfully should start gradually by eating more slowly and attentively for one meal per day or per week.

Harvard Health Letter offers the following tips to eat more mindfully:

* Set a timer to 20 minutes, and take that much time to eat a normal-sized meal.

* Eat with your non-dominant hand, or rather the hand that you don’t normally use. If you usually eat right-handed, use your left hand when taking food from plate mouth.

* If you don't normally use chopsticks, try them.

* Eat for five minutes silently, thinking about everything and everyone that helped produce the meal, from the sunshine that helped the crops grow, to the farmer to the grocer to the cook.

* Take small bites and chew the food well.

* Before opening the refrigerator or cabinet, take a breath and ask yourself if you are really hungry, and maybe do something else instead like reading or going on a short walk.

Bon appétit!

Dave Gorczynski is president of SPARK, a non-profit organization that has provided free energy work sessions and workshops across New York City since 2002. He writes a regular column about energy work and meditation for the Compact News in New York City's Chinatown. E-mail him at dave@sparkenergy.org.