Dietitians say changing how you eat, not what you eat, can prevent overindulgence, boost your desire for healthy, nutritious food, and aid weight loss.

The practice of eating mindfully, or “mindful eating”, is not something that should be looked over as “airy-fairy”, accredited practising dietitian Stephanie Pirotta told The New Daily.

It incorporates all five senses and begins well before you take your first bite, Ms Pirotta said.

Before you reach for you next meal, ask yourself: “Am I actually hungry or do I want to eat for comfort?”

A systematic review of 24 studies, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found a “high-quality evidence base” to suggest that attentive eating influenced food intake, and provided “a novel approach to aid weight loss and maintenance without the need for conscious calorie counting”.

The review found people who paid attention to their meal ate less, while those who ate while distracted “produced a moderate increase in immediate intake, but increased later intake to a greater extent”.

How to become a mindful eater

Understanding the reasons for your food cravings can help you determine if you’re emotionally or physically hungry, Ms Pirotta said.

Becoming a more conscious eater can enable people to respond to emotional cues with a more appropriate behaviour, she said.

If someone’s desire to eat is a reaction to stress, she suggested switching up the stress reliever and go for a walk, talk to a friend or read a book instead.

Before you start eating, pay attention to how the food looks by noticing its shape, colour and size. Also take note of its smell.

It’s best to eliminate all distractions so that you’re fully present in the moment, Ms Pirotta said.

A study, published in the journal Physiology & Behaviour, found people who remembered in detail what they ate for lunch snacked less in the afternoon.

To practice eating mindfully, remove all distractions. Photo: Getty

Ms Pirotta recommended to momentarily keep the food on your tongue, then chew about 20 to 30 times before swallowing.

It is also important to cleanse your palate with water between each bite, she said.

For foods that don’t require chewing, have in your mouth for about 20 to 25 seconds to savour the texture, taste and feeling.

When you’re eating slowly and are more mindful of the flavour, you tend to consume a lot less because you reach the point of satiety or satisfaction much sooner than if you scoffed food.

Ms Pirotta said that by giving tastebuds time to identify different flavours, people might find themselves stopping after one or two biscuits – rather than devouring half a packet.

“… because after a while you’re actually sickened by it because there’s sensory overload,” she said.

“If you are mindful, you are more aware of your body, how it reacts to food and what your body needs to be well nourished.”

Generally, people don’t feel as well after consuming high-fat, high-sugar processed foods as they do with high-nutrient foods, she said.

By eating mindfully, you’re more likely to intake healthier foods because “you feel better by eating well”, thereby helping you on your journey towards a healthy weight.

And as your gut health improves, so does your mental wellbeing because the gut impacts the brain, Ms Pirotta said.

Just think about it

Spokeswoman for the Dietitians Association of Australia Simone Austin said mindful eating was not about judging foods as good or bad.

For example, if you ate a whole block of chocolate, Ms Austin said eating mindfully means reflecting on why you ate the whole block, acknowledging any emotional triggers and recognising how you felt after.

“It might help you make different choices,” she said.

Ms Austin said it didn’t matter how many chews you took or how long the food stayed in your mouth, just as long as you chew well enough to be able to enjoy what you are eating.

“Sometimes if we’ve missed out on opportunities to eat for enjoyment, then we want to eat again because we haven’t enjoyed that previous experience despite the fact we might not be needing to eat,” Ms Austin said.