Lessons from a tangerine: you are how you eat

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I see a desperate need in today's culture to reestablish our relationship with food. I see this need displayed in the epidemic rates of obesity in adults and youth, in the parade of fad diets that introduce fear into eating and perpetuate imbalance, in the prevalence of chronic illness with underlying poor nutrition and in our obsession with weight.

I believe there is a grand design that created us to be in balance. With respect to the process of eating, I see a great schism in this balance and a maladjusted relationship with food as nourishment. We are missing the celebration with which we come together as a community to eat, the celebration and enjoyment of working together and nourishing our bodies with thankfulness for the food we receive. I would like to share with you the idea of mindful eating as a tool to bring ourselves back to homeostasis. My hope is to spark interest in mindful eating so that research will be done to look at its efficacy as a treatment.

Before I became a naturopathic medical student at Bastyr University, I began my exploration into the world of meditation to heal myself and was introduced to the idea of mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master, uses the term "mindfulness" to refer to keeping one's consciousness alive in the present reality. In his book, The Miracle of Meditation, he tells a story about a conversation of future plans with his friend Jim while they are eating a tangerine. Jim becomes so focused on talking about his plan that after popping one tangerine slice into his mouth, he has the next slice up to his lips. Thich Nhat Hanh says to him, "You ought to eat the tangerine section you've already taken." This Zen master's analysis of the situation was that if his friend was eating anything, he was eating his future plans, not really tasting the tangerine.

The progression of mindfulness in medicine and human health notably includes the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and fellow researchers at the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn is the founder of a program called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which is rooted in active contemplation of conscious awareness. This practice focuses on awareness of the breath in a setting of nonjudging, acceptance and patience with the practice, leading to a state of observational detachment and relaxation.

The Harvard Medical School has published a "Guide to Relieving Stress" that includes a section on mindful eating. It suggests that you sit down to eat, and inhale and exhale a few times to help you focus on the moment. Look at your food, take in the aroma, and chew slowly to savor texture, flavor and sensation. Think about how you feel before and after, assess your hunger and be aware of your emotions.

Bastyr Basics

These suggestions add to some of the characteristics of mindful eating, according to Debra Boutin, RD, Clinical Nutrition Coordinator at Bastyr University. She explained to me that awareness, or mindfulness, is incorporated into the curriculum at Bastyr by teaching students the importance of awareness in meal preparation, of the environment in which the meal is eaten and of the intention with which it is eaten. Patients at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health have been able to integrate these principles into their lives by creating sacred eating spaces in their homes complete with placemats and candles; by eliminating distractions such as television; by the placement of reminders to eat mindfully; and by the creation of ceremony and ritual such as giving thanks for the gift of food.

Although it is hard to characterize balanced eating, it is much easier to formulate what I see as imbalance and maladjusted intention to food as nourishment. Maladjusted eating can include overeating and obesity, excessive restriction and eating disorders, eating to cope with emotional need, stress-induced eating and the introduction of fear into food. Because eating is very individual, recognizing ways of eating that keep you balanced is key.

As a student of naturopathic medicine, I want to also share with you how mindful eating fits into the tenets of our medicine. Naturopathic physicians believe strongly in the body's ability to heal itself. Another one of the principles of natural medicine is, "First, Do No Harm," and this is why I see mindful eating as such a unique idea.

This principle states that first and foremost, the therapeutic approach to any illness should not harm the patient. I see a lot of hurt and pain in this culture surrounding our obsession with eating or not eating, or what we're eating. I am also disheartened by the amount of damage we do to our bodies with this obsession, when it seems to me that the simplicity lies in merely paying attention, being aware of what we do and why we do it. Part of this simplicity is that in just one meal eaten with mindful awareness, you can learn something new about yourself, an insight into your eating patterns. If you find success in this, just think of what mindfulness applied to the rest of your life could do!