Quick answer: Mindful eating means paying full attention to your food and your body’s signals. Eat slowly and savor each bite, listen to hunger and fullness cues, minimize distractions, practice gratitude, engage all your senses and eat with intention. These habits may improve digestion, satisfaction and your relationship with food.
Key takeaways
Eating slowly, chewing well and putting your fork down between bites gives fullness signals time to arrive.
Listening to hunger cues and eating without screens can help you enjoy food and notice when you are comfortably full.
Eating in a calm, rest-and-digest state supports digestion, and starting with one mindful meal a day is an easy first step.
Mindful eating practices
Eat slowly
Chew thoroughly and put your fork down between bites; fullness signals take time.
Listen to hunger cues
Eat when hungry and stop when comfortably full.
Minimize distractions
Turn off screens and sit down to eat.
Practice gratitude
Take a moment to appreciate your food.
Engage your senses
Notice colors, smells, textures and flavors.
Eat with intention
Choose foods that nourish you.
Daily routine
Pair it with long-term habits after the challenge. Start with one mindful meal a day, take three deep breaths before eating, and check in with your hunger halfway through.
Healthy aging lens
Eating in a calm, “rest and digest” state supports digestion. See stress and sleep.
When to see a naturopathic doctor
It may be time to see a naturopathic doctor if you have a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune or digestive condition, or if you have diabetes, kidney disease or take medications affected by diet changes. The same is true if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a history of disordered eating, or if you want a plan tailored to your labs, symptoms and goals.
See a medical provider promptly for severe abdominal pain, signs of an allergic reaction such as swelling or trouble breathing, or fainting.
What the research shows
Eating more slowly tends to mean eating less. A 2014 meta-analysis by Robinson and colleagues pooled 22 studies in which researchers changed how fast people ate. Slower eating led to lower food intake at that meal, though people did not feel less hungry at the end of the meal or up to 3.5 hours later. The studies varied a lot in design, and most measured single meals in a lab.
Chewing more is one easy way to slow down. In a 2014 crossover study by Zhu and Hollis, 45 adults aged 18 to 45 ate pizza until comfortably full while chewing each bite their usual number of times, 1.5 times as much or twice as much. They ate 9.5% less with 1.5 times the chewing and 14.8% less with twice the chewing, with no difference in how full they felt. This was a single-meal lab study, so long-term effects on weight and digestion are not known.
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Questions to bring to your clinician
These questions can help you get the most out of your next visit.
Could the way I eat, such as speed or stress at meals, be affecting my digestion?
Which mindful eating habit would be easiest for me to practice first?
Could eating more slowly help my digestion or fullness cues?
How could I eat more mindfully when I am busy or eating with others?
Frequently asked questions
What is mindful eating?
Paying full attention to food and your body’s signals.
Does mindful eating help digestion?
Eating slowly and calmly may support digestion.
Can it help with overeating?
It can help you notice fullness.
How do I start?
Try one distraction-free meal a day.
Sources
- Robinson E, Almiron-Roig E, Rutters F, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of eating rate on energy intake and hunger. Am J Clin Nutr 2014. PMID: 24847856. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24847856/
- Zhu Y, Hollis JH. Increasing the number of chews before swallowing reduces meal size in normal-weight, overweight, and obese adults. J Acad Nutr Diet 2014. PMID: 24215801. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24215801/
- Robinson E, et al. Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating. Am J Clin Nutr 2013. PMID: 23446890. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3607652/
- Warren JM, Smith N, Ashwell M. A structured literature review on the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in changing eating behaviours: effectiveness and associated potential mechanisms. Nutr Res Rev 2017. PMID: 28718396. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28718396/
- MedlinePlus: Nutrition
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It does not replace an individual evaluation. Talk with your healthcare provider before starting supplements or changing medications, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or managing a health condition.
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