Intuitive eating (IE) has emerged as a compelling alternative to traditional dieting. It proposes a healthier, more effective, and more innate way to manage weight by relying on physiological hunger and satiety cues to guide eating. This approach contrasts sharply with conventional strategies that often involve strict rules, calorie counting, and restriction. Understanding the principles of intuitive eating and dispelling common misconceptions is crucial for anyone seeking a balanced and sustainable approach to health.
What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is not a diet plan but rather a framework for developing a healthy attitude toward body image. It encourages the rejection of the notion that some foods are inherently ‘good’ and some ‘bad.’ Instead, it promotes making the best choice for oneself, which means eating when hungry and stopping when full. Advocates of intuitive eating emphasize that hunger should be the primary cue to eat, distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger.
Physical vs. Emotional Hunger
Physical hunger is characterized by a growling stomach, tiredness, or irritability, which subside upon eating. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, is influenced by negative emotions such as sadness, loneliness, boredom, or stress, which create cravings for food or are soothed by food. Intuitive eating aims to help individuals learn to trust their bodies and identify when hunger is physical rather than emotional, leading to better food choices.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
American dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch have outlined 10 guiding principles for practicing intuitive eating. These principles provide a roadmap for developing a healthier relationship with food and one's body.
- Reject the Diet Mentality: Forget the idea that dieting or restricting foods will lead to quick, easy, or permanent weight loss. Intuitive eating is the opposite of restriction, focusing on trusting that your body knows best.
- Honor Your Hunger: Feed your body when you experience the early signs of hunger. Delaying can lead to poor food choices and overeating.
- Make Peace with Food: Avoid categorizing foods as 'good' or 'bad'. Listen to what your body needs to reduce cravings for ‘forbidden’ foods and prevent binge eating.
- Challenge the Food Police: Challenge negative thoughts and self-talk about calorie intake or food choices. Avoid labeling yourself as 'good' for not exceeding calorie goals or 'bad' for eating certain foods.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Enjoy eating, both the food and the environment, to feel content and satisfied.
- Feel Your Fullness: Listen to your body's cues and stop eating when you're comfortably full.
- Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness: Acknowledge that food can't fix feelings, though it may offer short-term comfort. Develop alternative strategies to manage emotions, such as walking, journaling, or meditating.
- Respect Your Body: Learn to accept and respect your body, regardless of its shape or size.
- Movement - Feel the Difference: Stay active and pay attention to how it feels to move your body, rather than focusing on calories burned or steps taken.
- Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition: Balance nutrition with enjoyment. Make food choices that consider both your health and taste buds, without striving for perfection.
Intuitive Eating vs. Mindful Eating
While the terms are often used interchangeably, intuitive eating and mindful eating are not the same. Mindful eating is the practice of present moment awareness, focusing on slowing down and savoring the taste, smell, and texture of food. Intuitive eating includes elements of mindfulness but also encourages using natural instincts and physical and mental cues to decide when, what, and how much to eat.
Read also: Intuitive Eating: A guide
Can You Lose Weight by Eating Intuitively?
Intuitive eating is not a weight-loss diet but a way of managing food intake by eating in tune with your body's hunger and fullness cues. It may help create more ordered eating, which could lead to weight loss if that is relevant for you. However, being overly concerned with calorie counting or consciously choosing low-fat foods is contrary to the principles of intuitive eating.
This approach is a long-term strategy that focuses on changing how you think about food and becoming more attuned to your physical cues of hunger and satiety. There aren’t any plans or recipes to follow, just a series of behaviors intended to redefine your relationship with food.
Is Intuitive Eating Healthy?
Intuitive eating offers an alternative to traditional dieting, helping individuals reconnect with their physical hunger and satiety cues. It involves a mindset shift towards a healthier relationship with food and is not primarily a tool for weight loss. Studies have shown a consistent association between intuitive eating and a lower body mass index (BMI), as well as improved psychological health.
Who Should Refrain from Intuitive Eating?
While generally beneficial, those with an active eating disorder, certain health conditions (e.g., coeliac disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, food allergies), or those who need to gain weight or follow a structured eating program should refrain from intuitive eating.
Debunking Myths About Intuitive Eating and Weight Loss
Intuitive eating, with its focus on noticing internal cues and fostering a healthy relationship with food through a weight inclusive approach, has gained popularity as an alternative to dieting and weight normative thinking. However, misconceptions surrounding its compatibility with weight loss persist. Let's debunk three common myths to shed light on the realities of intuitive eating.
Read also: Intuitive Eating for weight management
Myth: Intuitive Eating is Just Another Diet in Disguise
Some skeptics dismiss intuitive eating as merely another fad diet trend, assuming that it imposes rules and restrictive dieting methods similar to conventional weight loss approaches.
Reality: Intuitive eating is a paradigm shift away from diet culture. While diets that focus on losing weight promote rules around foods to cut out, portions to follow, calories to count, or times to eat/not eat, intuitive eating guides individuals to reconnect with their body's innate wisdom and relearn 'how to eat'. Children are naturally intuitive as they eat the variety of foods provided to them, enjoy to satisfaction and fullness, and then return to play without another thought as their bodies use the food to fuel growing, learning, and existing - no rules or calorie limits needed.
Myth: You Shouldn't Want to Lose Weight with Intuitive Eating
Many people believe that working with a weight inclusive practitioner or intuitive eating counselor means that they need to be ready to let go of their desire to lose weight.
Reality: Because of the weight stigma that is unfortunately very real and alive in our current culture, it makes sense that losing weight and striving to be in a smaller body would feel like the answer to achieve belonging, acceptance, health, and confidence. The thought of relinquishing the quest to lose weight can feel scary, especially when there is fear of judgement and oppression for being in a body that is not seen as the cultural 'ideal'. That said, intuitive eating upholds one's body autonomy above all other philosophies in its approach. Practitioners will not shame you for continuing to desire or even pursue weight loss. They are there to explore the idea of an alternative approach to wellbeing, one that calls our attention to nourishing ourselves beyond the false beliefs we have internalized from society about weight and health. Even if you are not 100% ready to let go of wanting to lose weight, you are likely reading this because you are curious about intuitive eating - and that is enough!
Myth: Intuitive Eating Means Giving in to All Your Cravings
A common misconception is that intuitive eating gives individuals license to just 'eat whatever they want whenever they want', without much thought. Many people fear that jumping into this would mean eating foods that are perceived as "unhealthy" all the time, without control, causing them to gain past their healthy weight.
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Reality: Intuitive eating promotes a balanced and mindful approach to honoring the body's cues and cravings. It encourages individuals to listen and respond to those cravings without judgement - knowing that cravings are there for a reason! Especially after a time of restrictive dieting or not eating enough, it is entirely normal to go through a period where you are eating more than usual or even experiencing ravenous hunger. Evelyn Tribole, co-author of Intuitive Eating, compares this to what would happen if you held your breath, "If you hold your breath for a long time and finally take your first panicked inhale, no one calls it 'loss of control breathing' or 'binge breathing', It is a natural compensatory response to air deprivation. We need that perspective for eating." Because the process of healing from dieting or restrictive eating can be uncomfortable and confusing, working with a trusted clinician like a dietitian specialized in intuitive eating can be really helpful! We can reinforce why certain stages of intuitive eating are necessary and normal.
Why Intuitive Eating Does Not Prescribe Weight Loss as a Goal
Intuitive eating challenges the conventional notions about weight loss and dieting. As one of the lingering questions surrounding this intuitive eating journey, we will unpack why intuitive eating does not uphold intentional weight loss as a goal, and how research has found the overall health benefits of intuitive eating to far outweigh the traditional dieting approaches that primarily focus on weight loss as the intention.
Instead, it focuses on fostering health promoting behaviors and a mindful relationship with food. The emphasis is on breaking free from the constraints of diet culture, where weight loss is often prioritized over mental, physical, or emotional health. A 2014 review of the evidence found that intuitive eating improved psychological health, dietary intake, and eating behaviors with possible improvement (not decline) in physical health markers like blood pressure and cholesterol. More recent research has only reinforced these findings.
Weight loss may or may not occur naturally as a byproduct of intuitive eating. It is impossible to predict how someone's body may respond to intuitive eating. As we focus on supporting lifestyle choices and health behaviors, then body weight will naturally settle where it needs to be as a result. If the goals is just to lose weight, as many of us may have experienced in dieting, then we end up trying behaviors that we simply can't sustain (we didn't fail, biology just won't allow it). This is what leads to weight cycling (losing and then regaining weight) and yo-yo dieting which research has clearly found to have a negative impact on our health.
It is crucial to recognize that the impact of intuitive eating on body weight, shape, or size varies among individuals. Factors such as genetics, environment, and every other social determinant of health contribute largely to how the human body experiences changes. Some individuals may notice their weight stabilize with intuitive eating while others may notice shifts either up or down, and this is entirely natural.
Benefits of Intuitive Eating
There is a reason intuitive eating is gaining traction as an evidence-based approach to improving health - the benefits extend far beyond the one-dimensional realm of weight loss. Focused on fostering a positive relationship with food, intuitive eating offers numerous advantages that contribute to overall well-being.
Improved Mental Health: Working toward intuitive eating has been linked to enhanced mental health outcomes by promoting self-compassion, mindfulness, and body trust. Leaving behind the rules of diet culture means reduced anxiety and stress related to food and more brain space to engage in other areas of life that promote psychological wellbeing. Many research studies have overwhelmingly found the positive impact of intuitive eating practices on mental health. An eight-year longitudinal study of 1,500 people found that individuals who practice intuitive eating were less likely to experience low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, disordered eating, and body dissatisfaction.
Establish Health Promoting Behaviors: Intuitive eating encourages the development of healthy habits that extend beyond food choices. By learning techniques of mindful eating, integrating enjoyable movement, and understanding how to attune to the body's needs, intuitive eating sets the stage for a comprehensive and sustainable approach to personal wellness practices. In a large 2014 review of intuitive eating interventions, intuitive eaters demonstrated improved metabolic fitness through positive changes in eating habits and lifestyle choices.
Increased Satisfaction with Eating: If you have ever had a meal that 'hit the spot', you know how good it feels both physically and mentally. You also probably know that it had to do with more than just the food itself. Creating a supportive eating environment, eating food that sounds satisfying, and mindfully noticing our hunger, fullness, and satisfaction cues can help us derive more pleasure from eating and feel more at peace in the body.
Research Findings on Intuitive Eating
While existing research on intuitive eating is promising, studies have been conducted primarily in small samples, in females, and in limited populations within single universities and weight loss programs. It is of interest to learn more about the extent to which the general population utilizes intuitive eating principles and their associations with dieting and disordered eating behaviors.
Project EAT-III Study
Data from Project EAT-III, a population-based study of 2,287 young adults (mean age: 25.3 years), explored intuitive eating among young adults according to socio-demographic characteristics and body mass index (BMI), and examined associations between intuitive and disordered eating behaviors. The study found that more males reported trusting their bodies to tell them how much to eat than did females. Intuitive eating was inversely associated with BMI in both genders. Males and females who reported trusting their body to tell them how much to eat had lower odds of utilizing disordered eating behaviors compared to those that did not have this trust. Females who reported that they stop eating when they are full had lower odds of chronic dieting and binge eating than those who do not stop eating when full. Overall, this study found that intuitive eating practices are inversely associated with a number of harmful outcomes.
Additional Research
Small, short-term controlled trials or cross-sectional studies using IE concepts have consistently shown benefits for psychological wellbeing (e.g., reduced depression and anxiety; increased body satisfaction, self-acceptance, and quality of life). IE interventions have also shown a decrease in certain behaviors such as binge eating and restrained eating/dieting. A limited number of studies have shown improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol.
However, a cross-sectional study of 41,536 men and women found that scoring higher with “unconditional permission to eat” or no food rules/restrictions was associated with more unhealthful food choices and a higher total calorie intake. High scorers tended to eat less fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while eating more fast food and sweetened and fatty foods. This highlights the importance of balancing intuitive eating with nutrition knowledge.
Limitations of Intuitive Eating
While intuitive eating offers numerous benefits, it also has some limitations:
May not cause weight loss: The IE model is not intended to cause weight loss, but to promote a positive self-image and healthy lifestyle changes. People who are seeking a plan that causes weight loss may not prefer this approach, because there are no specific amounts or types of foods recommended and body weight is not measured. However, a decrease in behaviors like restrained eating and emotional eating may naturally lead to weight loss for some. If a person has been advised to lose weight by their physician to improve medical conditions (e.g., prediabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver), an IE approach may be used in conjunction with a weight-reducing eating plan.
Fear of weight gain: A concern with individuals is letting go of diet rules and “forbidden” foods. They may fear a lack of control around these foods that are now permitted without restrictions. In certain cases, less boundaries may lead some people to overeat or choose low-nutrient-dense foods (e.g., processed high-sugar beverages or foods).
May not improve health outcomes related to weight gain or chronic disease: IE concepts encourage self-care and a positive response to food, which may or may not cause a change towards healthful eating patterns (consuming more fruits and vegetables, less sweetened beverages and foods, less fried foods, not skipping meals, etc.).
Does not address the concept of food addiction: Cravings for food may stem from a neurobiological source that is neither caused by physical or emotional hunger. The notion of a food addiction is controversial, but research shows that the brain can activate reward regions of the brain in response to flavors like fat, salt, and sugar when they are eaten in excess and on a regular basis.