THE
FINISHING TOUCH
HIDDEN BENEFITS
Practising yoga is more likely to lead to mindful eating than other forms of physical activity, according to research from the US
KATIE BARNES » MANAGING EDITOR » SPA BUSINESS C
ombining yoga with weight- loss programmes could make for a hugely successful slim- ming regime in spas, if the
fi ndings from a study carried out at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, US*, are to be taken into account. T e study, which was published in the
Journal of the American Dietetic Associa- tion, showed that mindful eaters – people more aware of what they were eating and who stopped when they felt full – didn’t weigh as much as those who ate mind- lessly (when they didn’t feel hungry) or in response to depression or anxiety. Not surprising you may think – but
what was interesting was the association between mindful eating and yoga practice.
GATHERING DATA Information was gathered via a Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) devised by Alan Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center. T e survey consisted of 28 ques- tions which measured factors such as: • Disinhibition – eating even when full • Awareness – being aware of how food looks, tastes and smells • External cues – eating in response to environmental cues such as advertising • Emotional response – eating in response to sadness or stress • Distraction – focusing on other things when eating.
Each question was graded on a scale of
one to four, with the higher scores relat- ing to more mindful eating. T e MEQ was distributed to just over 500 people in the Seattle area, including members of a yoga studio, fi tness facility and weight-loss cen- tre. It was also distributed at non-fi tness related businesses such as a soſt ware com- pany and a school.
“Yoga, which focuses on a calm mind and breathing, teaches mindful skills and may help people to judge their motivations for eating more accurately”
Just over 300 people completed the
questionnaire: mostly women (81 per cent), white (90 per cent) and well edu- cated (86 per cent had 16 years or more of schooling), with an average age of 42.
TELLING RESULTS Around 40 per cent of respondents prac- tised yoga more than one hour a week, 46 per cent walked for at least 90 minutes a week and 52 per cent engaged in more than 90 minutes of moderate/strenuous physical activity per week. T e average body mass index (BMI) of
respondents was around 25.8, within the normal range, which is not surprising
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considering that there was a bias towards physically active people in the sample. BMI was lower on average among yoga
practitioners (23.1) and those with higher MEQ scores, which in itself was found to be connected: the number of years of yoga practice and the number of minutes’ prac- tice each week were associated with higher MEQ scores. Other forms of exercise were not found to have a statistically signifi cant impact on the MEQ. T e results seem to support Kristal’s
hypothesis that mindfulness – a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga – can impact on eating behaviour, and that yoga practition- ers gain less weight over time thanks to improved body awareness rather than the physical activity aspect of yoga. He explains: “Yoga encourages prac-
titioners to adopt challenging physical poses with an accepting, calm mind and focus on the breath. T is teaches mindful- ness skills and may enable individuals to successfully navigate diffi cult food envi- ronments and more accurately judge their motivations for eating.” Kristal concludes that the MEQ is the
fi rst tool of its kind to characterise and measure mindful eating and suggests that it could be used in weight-loss clinics to promote healthy behaviour. ●
* Framson C et al. Development and Validation of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Vol 109, Iss 8, p1489-1444. Aug 09.
SPA BUSINESS 3 2010 ©Cybertrek 2010
PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/©LISE GAGNE
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