3) Cope with chronic eating problems such as anorexia and bulimia, and reduce anxious thoughts about food and your body. (Proulx 2008; Rawal et al. 2009; Hepworth 2011)

4) Improve the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. (Rosenzweig et al. 2007; Faude-Lang et al. 2010).

Thus, it has many benefits!

Intuitively, it makes sense that mindful eating is helpful to overeaters. It slows you down, makes you more aware of portion sizes, and helps you get out of negative, automatic food habits like overeating while watching your favorite T.V. show. So how does it also help people who have other problematic eating habits?

In a nutshell, whether you are overeating or being overly restrictive when you diet, it’s likely that you have lost track of your hunger and fullness. This break between your body and mind needs to be healed. Mindful eating can generally help in three ways:

1) Mindful eating plugs you back into your body’s cues so you know when to stop and start eating. This can be such a difficult task if your sense of hunger and fullness has been skewed or warped by large restaurant portions, fad diets or comfort eating.

2) Being mindful brings about better management of your emotions.Sometimes people restrict or overeat as a way to cope with negative feelings. Eating and not eating can distract you from your worries. When you have healthier ways of coping, such as mindful breathing and letting go of anxiety, you no longer manage your emotions through your food choices. You can tolerate your emotions, as uncomfortable as they may be, without pushing them away or stuffing them down with food.

3) Mindfulness changes the way you think. Rather than reacting to food-related thoughts that urge you to overeat, overly restrict your diet, or emotionally eat, et cetera, you respond to them. You can hear these thoughts without obeying them.

So if you aren’t a binge eating, don’t worry. Mindful eating can be helpful to almost everyone.