Acute response and neurophysiological mechanisms of mindfulness meditation in emotional eating.

Adults who engage in emotional eating show different brain activity during mindfulness meditation compared to those who do not. After three audio-guided mindfulness practices, the emotional eating group had higher frontal midline theta power and lower frontal midline alpha power, particularly during the meditation phase. Two negative correlations emerged only in the emotional eating group: one between changes in frontal midline delta power and emotional eating behaviors, and another between beta-1 power and cognitive reappraisal during meditation. These findings suggest that modulation of frontal midline theta and alpha activity may contribute to the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation on emotional eating, while the clinical significance of the delta activity correlation requires further investigation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Emotional eating often leads to adverse health outcomes. Understanding how mindfulness influences emotional eating is crucial for developing strategies to promote healthier eating behaviors and well-being. This study aims to investigate the mechanism and acute response to a mindfulness meditation practice on emotional eating by examining immediate post-intervention effects on brain activity and neurophysiological differences between individuals with and without emotional eating. Forty-nine adults were recruited and allocated into two groups based on the emotional eating subscale score of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire: emotional eating (EE group) and non-emotional eating (comparison group). EEG was captured from three 14-min audio-guided mindfulness practices (MPs; each comprising three consecutive phases: mindful breathing [MPbreathing], emotion evocation [MPevocation], and meditation [MPmeditation]) and 5-min resting periods before and after each mindfulness practice. We compared between-group and between-condition differences in the EEG band power and examined potential correlations between EEG data and other participant characteristics. Following three MPs, the EE group exhibited a higher frontal midline theta power (p = 0.051) and a lower frontal midline alpha power (p = 0.059) compared with the comparison group. These effects primarily originated from the MPmeditation (theta band: corrected ps ≤ 0.03; alpha band: corrected ps ≤ 0.08). Two negative correlations were specifically found in the EE group: one between changes in frontal midline delta power and emotional eating behaviors, and another between beta-1 power and cognitive reappraisal that emerged in the MPmeditation. Our findings suggest that the modulation of frontal midline theta and alpha activity may contribute to the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation in remediating emotional eating. The clinical significance of the correlation between delta activity and emotional eating severity warrants further investigation.