Following on from last week’s excellent article by Patricia Issitt on mindful breathing, I thought I would continue the theme and look at how mindfulness can influence eating habits.

In my clinic I frequently see clients with common digestive ailments like heartburn, indigestion, bloating and wind. As well as looking at what foods are being eaten, I encourage clients to pay attention to how and when they are eating: many of these issues can be alleviated through eating more mindfully.

What exactly is mindful eating? The Centre for Mindful Eating includes several important factors in their definition, including: - Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing aspect of eating: making time to prepare and eat food is an important part of this process, rather than grabbing food quickly whilst on the go.

- Choosing to eat food that is both pleasing and nourishing by using all your senses to explore, savour and taste.

- Acknowledging your responses to food - both likes and dislikes - without judgment.

- Developing awareness of hunger and satiety signals to guide you decisions to begin eating and stop eating.

Digestive processes begin in the head, with the way we see, smell and even hear food being prepared. This is called the cephalic phase, derived from the Greek word ‘kephos’ meaning ‘head’. Our senses of sight, smell and sound alert the body to the imminent arrival of food: signals are transmitted to the stomach and gastric juices are released ready for when food is eaten. Think about how your mouth waters when you hear and smell bacon cooking, or see a roast chicken coming out of the oven – this is the cephalic stage of digestion at work. Mindful eating encourages you to become aware of these senses and how they influence your digestive comfort.

By allowing time to sit and enjoy a meal, mindful eating encourages us to chew food properly and rest for a few moments after eating. This helps develop awareness of satiety and fullness – it can take up to 20mins for your brain to register that your stomach is full yet we frequently ignore this fact, ploughing straight on to eat dessert and feeling uncomfortably full afterwards.

By becoming more finely attuned to when we feel genuinely hungry and not just tired, lonely or upset, we start to realise just how much food is used as a comforter. Mindful eating is incredibly powerful as a weight loss tool. Each mouthful is properly savoured, enhancing both your enjoyment of the meal and nutrient absorption in your digestive tract, which in turn has huge implications for health and wellbeing.

Why not try eating your next meal in a more mindful fashion? Enjoy preparing your food, then as you sit down to eat, relax by taking three slow deep breaths. Chew each mouthful slowly and thoroughly and once you have finished eating, sit for a few moments before deciding if you really need any more food.

- Sally Duffin is a nutritional therapist and writer based in Holgate, York.