Mindfulness and alimentation : comprehend differently emotions, food sensations and sensoriality

Authors

  • M. Florquin
  • F. Lemétayer

Abstract

Background : This explorative research aimed to determine if the practice of mindfulness could help patients, who were followed as part of this study by a diet medical center in France, to improve their relationship with food. Methods : More specifically we examined if work on emotions, food sensations and the five senses concerning food could influence the relation with food for patients affected by obesity and / or eating disorders. 18 volunteer participants (17 women and 1 man) were part of both individual and group sessions on mindfulness, which were designed for the study in accordance with the center’s functioning. Findings : Explorative results revealed a relation between emotions and diet : negative feelings affect eating process. Furthermore, denial of food sensations could be linked to weight gain. Then, we observed that patients didn’t take into account all their senses during eating process. Discussion : Finally, the discussion highlighted that mindfulness can help patients to develop their relationship with food, particularly for patients presenting eating disorders.

Published

2015-12-31

Issue

Section

Poster presentations