Yoga Can Help with Your Dieting Efforts

Regular yoga practice increases your body awareness, or ‘mindfulness’, and this can lead to what is called ‘mindful eating’.  A publication in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association describes a questionnaire that evaluates mindful eating, and its possible influence on weight control efforts.

A mindful eating questionnaire (MEQ) was developed by University of Washington scientists, and tested in a range of easily-recruited people.  Over 300 questionnaires were distributed, and 62% of them returned, completed.  Participants were mostly women (81%) and white (90%), with an average age of 42.  The factors analyzed in relation to the MEQ scores, (and each other), were: demographic characteristics, obesity, yoga practice, and physical activity. 

MEQ scores were negatively associated with body mass index (BMI), i.e. the higher the MEQ score the lower the BMI.  And yoga practice, but neither walking nor moderate/intense physical exercise, were associated with higher MEQ scores.

In an earlier study, the scientists report that middle-aged people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period.  Those people who ate mindfully – who were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full - weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, i.e. people who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression.