Can Mindfulness Address Maladaptive Eating Behaviors? Why Traditional Diet Plans Fail and How New Mechanistic Insights May Lead to Novel Interventions.
Judson A. Brewer, Andrea Ruf, Ariel L Beccia, Gloria I Essien, Leonard M Finn, Remko Van Lutterveld, Ashley E Mason
Frontiers in Psychology 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01418 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Craving Disordered eating Maladaptive eating behaviors Mindful eating Obesity Operant conditioning Reward |
| Citations | 83 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training that targets reward-based learning may be an appropriate intervention to rewire the learning process around eating, and focusing on intrinsic rather than extrinsic reward mechanisms is a promising new direction. |
Abstract
Emotional and other maladaptive eating behaviors develop in response to a diversity of triggers, from psychological stress to the endless external cues in our modern food environment. While the standard approach to food- and weight-related concerns has been weight-loss through dietary restriction, these interventions have produced little long-term benefit, and may be counterproductive. A growing understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms that underpin habit formation may explain why this approach has largely failed, and pave the way for a new generation of non-pharmacologic interventions. Here, we first review how modern food environments interact with human biology to promote reward-related eating through associative learning, i.e., operant conditioning. We also review how operant conditioning (positive and negative reinforcement) cultivates habit-based reward-related eating, and how current diet paradigms may not directly target such eating. Further, we describe how mindfulness training that targets reward-based learning may constitute an appropriate intervention to rewire the learning process around eating. We conclude with examples that illustrate how teaching patients to tap into and act on intrinsic (e.g., enjoying healthy eating, not overeating, and self-compassion) rather than extrinsic reward mechanisms (e.g., weighing oneself), is a promising new direction in improving individuals' relationship with food.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Self-Regulation Without Force: Can Awareness Leverage Reward to Drive Behavior Change? Perspectives on Psychological Science August 28, 2020
- Effects of Adapted Mindfulness Training on Interoception and Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet: The MB-BP Randomized Clinical Trial. medRxiv May 15, 2023
- Targeting anxiety to improve sleep disturbance: A randomized clinical trial of app-based mindfulness training Psychosomatic Medicine April 14, 2022
- Can Approaching Anxiety Like a Habit Lead to Novel Treatments? American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2021
- Mindfulness and Behavior Change Harvard Review of Psychiatry November 1, 2020
Cites 13
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training for Treating Binge Eating Disorder: The Conceptual Foundation Eating Disorders December 21, 2010
- Mindful attention reduces neural and self-reported cue-induced craving in smokers Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience November 22, 2011
- Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- A randomized controlled trial of smartphone-based mindfulness training for smoking cessation: a study protocol BMC Psychiatry April 13, 2015
and 8 more in the library