What is Intuitive Eating?
You may have seen “Intuitive Eating” come across your social media feed, or maybe you heard it mentioned by a friend or family member. You might be curious about how to eat intuitively, but after years of overthinking food and your body, you feel uncertain about what that would even look like.
Intuitive Eating is often introduced as the idea of listening to your body to make food choices — So your immediate reaction may be, “Oh, I could never do that! I would just eat forever!,” and if it is, you’re not alone. While Intuitive Eating does involve listening to your body to make food choices, there’s a lot more to it than that.
Technically speaking, Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based, 10 principle model created by two dietitians — In practice, it’s a learned skillset that allows you to honor your hunger and fullness, interpret the food noise in your head to figure out what your body needs for nourishment, and develop body trust. Rather than getting entangled in diet culture and shame, learning the skills of intuitive eating empowers you to break free from toxic cycles of dieting, restricting, binging, or anything else that makes you feel like sh!t about yourself and your body.
There are 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:
Reject diet culture
Honor your hunger
Make peace with food
Discover the satisfaction factor
Feel your fullness
Challenge the food police
Cope with your emotions with kindness
Respect your body
Movement — feel the difference
Honor your health — gentle nutrition
These principles might sound good, but the research results sound more exciting: Studies on Intuitive Eating have shown both improved physical and mental health outcomes when compared to control groups and dieting groups.
Physical health benefits of Intuitive Eating:
Improved metabolic health markers (like cholesterol, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity)
More regulated eating patterns
Healthier digestive functioning
More stable energy levels
Reduced cortisol (the stress hormone)
Improved immune function
Healthier relationship with exercise
Mental health benefits of Intuitive Eating:
Reduced food noise, so you can enjoy thinking about other things besides food and your body!
Reduced anxiety and stress around food and exercise
Improved body image
Decreased risk of developing an eating disorder
Improved emotional regulation and mood stability (when you’re well nourished, you’re hangry less!)
Freedom from diet culture guilt and shame
Common misconceptions about Intuitive Eating:
“It’s the hunger and fullness diet” ——> While Intuitive Eating will help you better tune into and honor your hunger and fullness, it is not a diet, and it allows flexibility that accommodates for cravings, bodily needs, your time schedule, food accessibility, and several other factors that impact what, when, and how much you eat.
“I’m never going to stop eating if I just try to listen to my body” ——> Like with any other skill, eating intuitively is a learned practice — Especially after years of food rules or restriction, your body needs time to acclimate to its new normal to redevelop body trust. With time and practice, you’ll be able to trust your body’s cues to better gauge and respond to your needs.
“Intuitive Eating doesn’t focus on health” ——> Research actually shows better physical and mental health outcomes for Intuitive Eaters when compared to dieters or those on specific dietary regimens. Principle #10, Honor your health — gentle nutrition, teaches you how to nourish your body to support your overall health without having to obsess over food or restrict yourself from foods you enjoy.
If you feel ready to move past feeling at war with your body or with food, learning more about Intuitive Eating might be a great step, but you don’t have to figure this all out on your own. To learn more about how therapy can help you heal your relationship with food and exercise, click here to reach out!
References:
https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/
https://www.intuitiveeating.org/studies/
