Advertisement

The benefits of mindful eating



Do you chomp down a quick sandwich while driving? Multi-task lunch with work? Hectic schedules often mean eating while doing another task, but it can lead to us overeating.

Dr Brian Wansink, the author of Mindless Eating (Hay House, $20.95), says we overeat because we’re distracted or surrounded by large portions of junk food. ‘We eat as if it’s our mission to finish them,’ he says.

Eating while watching TV or a film is a big trap. Distracted with what’s on screen, we mindlessly fill our mouths, short-circuiting our fullness signals.

In one famous experiment, Dr Wansink offered a free bucket of popcorn to moviegoers in return for answering (dummy) questions about the movie. Half the patrons got a medium-size bucket, the other half a big size.

The big-bucket group ended up eating 53 per cent more popcorn (an average of 725 more kilojoules) while mindlessly munching. That’s roughly the equivalent of 21 more dips into the bucket.

Here’s how to eat mindfully:

  • Sit down to eat. Don’t watch TV or read. Let the food be the sole centre of your attention.

  • Chew thoughtfully – put your cutlery down between bites.

  • Make the meal last at least 20 minutes. Eat with your non-dominant hand to slow down.

To get you on the path to mindful eating, try this Lamb shanks with vegetables recipe