Obesity has become a global problem. Millions of people around the world suffer from this horrible condition and are desperate for a solution. This desperation among the masses has led scientists and entrepreneurs to come up with multiple diet and fitness plans.
Although there have been many successful diet plans, not a lot of them are healthy in the long run and generally leave people weightless but filled with nutritional deficiencies. There is also the problem of sustainability. Not many diet plans are sustainable and as long as people are off them, they start to gain weight again.
Amidst this mayhem a new approach towards obesity has been introduced. It is known as intuitive eating and ironically seems very counterintuitive to a lot of people. In this article, we are discussing everything you need to know about intuitive eating and its benefits.
What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating as the name suggests refers to eating according to the needs of the body and hunger signals. The important thing is that one should be able to accurately read hunger signals and understand the needs of the body. This type of eating was first introduced in 1995 and was an attempt of two researchers at freeing people from diet plans with strict restrictions.
The main difference between intuitive eating and diet plans is that diet plans put restrictions and schedule the meals while intuitive eating promotes eating whenever you are hungry and stop when you are full. Many dietitians however are only in favor of intuitive eating for people who do not have any medical conditions such as diabetes or blood pressure.
The idea behind intuitive eating is that one should be able to distinguish between emotional hunger and physical hunger. Physical hunger originates from the body’s natural need of acquiring nutrients while emotional hunger originates due to feelings of sadness and boredom. Once a person can accurately differentiate between physical and emotional hunger then he/she can rely intuitive eating to keep him/herself healthy.
What are its benefits?
Many dietitians these days are recommending intuitive eating to people who are looking to lose weight as it saves people from nutritional deficiencies. Intuitive eating also help frees people from restrictive diets and trains them to eat moderately which is far more sustainable. Intuitive eating also makes people feel in control. They feel like they can control their meals rather than the other way around. This feeling empowers them and gave them a new confidence in their instinct to eat healthy and ultimately, they do develop this instinct.
Intuitive eating is natural but initially it can be hard to distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. If you are dealing with obesity and are thinking of starting intuitive eating, it is better that you do it under the supervision of a dietitian.
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This article was produced in partnership with oladoc.com, a digital health company in Pakistan. Using oladoc, you can find top nutritionists in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and book an appointment online.
