Mindful eating: Trait and state mindfulness predict healthier eating behavior

Abstract

Obesity and excess weight are significant societal problems. Mindfulness may encourage healthier weight and eating habits. Across four studies, we found a positive relation between mindfulness and healthier eating. Trait mindfulness was associated with less impulsive eating, reduced calorie consumption, and healthier snack choices. In addition, we found a causal effect of mindfulness on healthier eating. An experimental manipulation of state mindfulness led participants to consume fewer calories in a spontaneous eating task. We also found preliminary evidence that mindfulness affects eating behavior by encouraging attitudinal preferences for healthier foods. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that mindfulness encourages healthier eating, even in the absence of specific instruction in mindful eating. These results suggest that generic mindfulness-based strategies could have ancillary benefits for encouraging healthier eating behavior.

All you can eat Buffets, obesity, mindfulness, and mindful eating: An exploratory investigation

“…Mindful eating is the application of mindfulness fundamentals on food-related experiences; that is, purposeful attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental or accepting attitude. Mindful eating has been related to healthier eating [32], and has been suggested to drop glucose levels and assist weight loss through mindfulness-based interventions [33]. Whether or not mindful eating relates to frequency of visits to AYCEB has not yet been explored.…”

Comparison of Mindful and Slow Eating Strategies on Acute Energy Intake

“…Analysis from this study indicated that gender was related to mindfulness, with men statistically more mindful than women. This study was one part of a 4-part study and no gender effects were seen in the other 3 sub-studies (54). However, because of this finding and that of other studies, the effects of gender on energy intake should be taken into consideration.…”

“…After the intervention, participants were instructed to "eat as many M&Ms, pretzels, and almonds as you would like". Participants in the mindfulness condition ate 24% fewer calories than those in the control condition as measured by food weight (54). Results from these two sub-studies indicate that both trait mindfulness (indicative of potential "chronic" mindfulness) and a brief mindfulness based intervention were associated with decreased calorie intake.…”

“…Research shows that mindfulness based practice may have a positive effect not only on energy intake, but also on stress (48-50), negative affect (48), depression (40,48), body image (51), binge eating (40,46,48,52,53), food cravings (51), and overall healthier eating behaviors (46,(48)(49)(50)(51)(54)(55)(56). For example, mindfulness-based interventions to reduce stress eating (also known as emotional eating), or eating in response to emotional cues -positive or negative (57)(58)(59), resulted in improvement in mindfulness, anxiety, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and external-based eating as well as maintenance of body weight (49).…”

“…After completion of the e-crossing task, participants were offered either a fruit (lower calorie: apple or orange) or sweet (higher calorie: Kit Kat or cookies) snack. Results indicated that trait mindfulness was able to predict snack choice, with participants rated high in trait mindfulness choosing the lower calorie fruit option more often (54). A second part of the study investigated the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention on energy intake.…”