Eating more slowly and relishing each bite could help people eat less or eat healthier, according to Lilian Cheung, lecturer in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Cheung, who also is the editorial director of the department’s nutrition website, The Nutrition Source, co-authored the 2010 book Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life with Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.
The simple techniques involved in mindful eating—eating without watching the TV or computer, eating in silence, chewing slowly, taking breaths between bites—can help us focus more on what we are choosing to put into our bodies, and why, says Cheung.
“By acknowledging and embracing our cravings through a few breaths,” Cheung said in a February 7, 2012 New York Times article, “we can stop the autopilot of reaching out to the pint of ice cream or the bag of chips.”
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Lilian Cheung: “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life” (HSPH video)