What Is Intuitive Eating and How to Do It

Intuitive Eating is a method of learning to eat in rhythm with your body's natural hunger cues, encouraging a more peaceful relationship with food. Here we’ll discuss how to do it, and the many ways that adopting an intuitive eating lifestyle can support your health.

A review article from Cambridge University identifies intuitive eating as: eating when hungry, stopping eating when full, and having no restrictions on certain types of food eaten, except for medical reasons. The university also notes that intuitive eating has been correlated with a lower BMI, better long-term weight maintenance, and improved psychological health, as well as positive improvements in cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

Dieting and restrictive eating disrupt homeostasis, or the body’s ability to maintain stability when adjusting to stress or change, and cause physical, emotional and spiritual distress, according to the Holistic Nursing Practice medical journal. Dieting is typically a short-term solution, and can often lead to weight gain when the restrictive period is over. Intuitive eating, on the other hand, is a long-term practice, meant to establish a new, relaxed relationship with food altogether.

Where dieting relies on a set of external rules to dictate how and what you eat, intuitive eating teaches you to follow your own internal cues of hunger and fullness to guide you. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that programs which emphasize a nonrestrictive pattern of eating, body acceptance and health, rather than weight loss, helped participants abandon unhealthy weight control behaviors, and resulted in improved metabolic fitness, increased body satisfaction and improved psychological distress.

Think giving up restrictions will result in weight gain? Surprisingly, the research supports weight stability in both men and women when using intuitive eating as an intervention. And although it is not meant to be a weight loss plan, intuitive eating may also lead to significant weight loss.

A review of the research on intuitive eating shows that participants had significantly decreased total and LDL cholesterol, as well as lowered systolic blood pressure, which are two important indicators of cardiovascular health. Plant-based foods like colorful vegetables, nuts and soy have been shown to significantly lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and may be an important component in an intuitive eating program focused on cardiovascular health.

The first step to eating intuitively is getting to know your hunger signals. Are you bored? Lonely? Thirsty? Are you ready for a snack, or a meal? Maybe you need a sweet treat to boost your energy in the middle of the afternoon? Appetite is complex, so take some time to better understand what your body is asking for when it speaks to you.

Just as there is a “hunger” hormone that signals the sensation of appetite to the brain, there is also a “fullness” hormone that signals satiety while we’re eating. According to Harvard University, eating too quickly may not give this intricate hormonal system enough time to work, so eating slowly may help you experience the sensation of fullness at the most accurate time, before overeating and feeling uncomfortably full.

Part of eating intuitively means feeding yourself exactly what sounds delicious, nourishing and meaningful to you at the moment. Where the focus on dieting is to remove foods that don’t fit into your plan, intuitive eating is all about cultivating a long-term, peaceful relationship with food, where all of it is worthy and perfectly acceptable. If you have weight loss or other health goals, filling your plate most often with natural, colorful, minimally processed foods will always be the most beneficial route, but the core of intuitive eating is to nourish without judgment.

Whether enjoying a meal with friends, at the office or in your own kitchen, try to make mealtime a special part of the day that offers you a moment of reprieve. Prepare the plate using beautiful colors and textures or a special garnish, remove yourself from stressful or distracting stimulation like scrolling your newsfeed, and take a few moments to appreciate the food, where it came from and how it will nourish you before digging in.