How do you figure out what your stomach wants? Nutritionist named the principles of intuitive eating

doctor of preventive medicine, nutritionist

“Intuitive nutrition requires an understanding of the peculiarities and needs of the body. Unlike diets, it does not involve strict rules. What principles should be adhered to in order to establish a relationship with food?”

The essence of intuitive eating

The beginning of the ideology of intuitive eating stretches back to the 1970s in the United States. This anti-diet approach appeared during the second wave of feminism. Against the backdrop of protests, the first self-help groups began to appear, where new dietary rules were taught, which taught not to sit on diets for the sake of social norms.

The main conclusion of research and practice is that strict food restrictions don’t work in the long run – people still quit diets after a while and regain their weight. That’s how the idea of intuitive eating came about.

Debunking the myths

Myth 1: This type of diet is to eat whatever you want at any time and in any quantity.

The main message of intuitive eating is to restructure your thinking, to establish a relationship with your body, to understand the true causes of hunger and increased appetite. For example, the brain very often confuses the feeling of thirst with the feeling of hunger. Clinical studies have shown that 37% of people mistake thirst for hunger.

Conduct a simple experiment: if two or three hours after a meal you feel hungry again, drink a glass of warm water with herbs or lemon, and then observe how it feels. The feeling of thirst causes the brain to seek out foods that contain water or the desired flavor for the receptors.

Myth 2: Intuitive eating is unconscious consumption of food.

It is important to make conscious decisions when eating. Eating a burger in the middle of the night because you suddenly have a craving is not about intuitive eating. It is important to listen not to fleeting desires, but to analyze the consequences.

Fast food consumption often leads to a heavy stomach, discomfort, and if you eat such food before bedtime, it leads to lack of sleep, digestive problems, risk of obesity and exacerbation of chronic diseases, because it is a serious load on the body. And conscious eating is not only about unhealthy foods.

For example, spinach contains a large number of trace elements, but if you feel that with its frequent use appears discomfort, it is worth listening to the body. The fact is that the product contains oxalates, which can lead to exacerbation of urolithiasis, so the reluctance to eat a leafy vegetable can be a protective signal of the body.

Myth 3. Intuitive eating will help you lose weight quickly.

It takes time to learn to listen to your body and change your attitude to nutrition. So keep in mind that intuitive eating is about long-term changes.

That being said, each person’s experience may be different. This means that the answer to the question of whether weight loss is possible with this type of nutrition depends on the characteristics of the person and his lifestyle, which he led before switching to conscious eating.

Myth 4: Intuitive eating is suitable for everyone.

It is worth considering that there are a number of limitations to intuitive eating. It is not suitable for people with eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia), as there may be problems with the correct perception of their sensations.

Patients with gastrointestinal diseases and exacerbations should also refuse it. Gastritis, gallbladder dyskinesia, irritable bowel syndrome, ileitis, Crohn’s disease – all of these are incompatible with intuitive eating.

These conditions are associated with a disorder of the microbiota and environmental constancy, and fungal and dysbiotic processes are directly related to eating behavior: for example, cravings for sweet, salty, or the sense of satiety suffers.

If immunity and thyroid function are reduced, this type of diet is also not quite rational, as the possibility of less protein intake is fraught with exacerbation of diseases.

Basic principles of intuitive eating

1. Listen to your body: learn to hear the signals of hunger and satiety, respond to them in the appropriate way. In this case, do not blindly follow the body. For example, if you are not hungry, but you know that you are going to take a long trip where you will not have access to food, you should take something with you.

2. Pay attention to the quality of your food, it directly affects your health and overall well-being. Choosing fresh, natural foods rich in nutrients helps support the immune system and improves digestion.

Foods high in sugar, artificial additives and colorings should be avoided as they can cause a surge of energy followed by a feeling of fatigue. According to a study, eating foods high in fat and sugar also impairs memory.

3- You need to separate your emotional state from your food cravings. It is in a state of stress, lack of sleep and lack of energy that we start to eat a lot of sweet and junk food to quickly increase the level of hormones and neurotransmitters of joy and relaxation. A healthy body does not require additional boosters in the form of sweets, plenty of salt, flour products.

4. Don’t forget about sports and an active lifestyle. You can also use your intuition to choose classes. Yoga, Pilates, running, dancing – find what you like.

5. Every person is unique and their nutritional needs may vary. Therefore, before switching to intuitive eating, it is worth contacting a nutritionist or other specialist who will assess your condition, help you cope with psychological barriers, assess the readiness of the body (check the absence of pronounced problems with the gastrointestinal tract, eating behavior, mental state and chronic diseases).

If you learn to take care of your body and listen to it, it will improve the quality of your life, reduce the risks of developing many diseases and help you come to a healthy relationship with food.