Brigham Young University research indicates the best way to loseweight may be to toss restrictive diets in favor of 'a hunger-basedanti-dieting approach' where when and how much you eat depends onwhat your body tells you.
That approach, called 'intuitive eating,' translates into lowercholesterol levels, body mass index and cardiovascular disease risk,according to Steven Hawks, professor of health science at BYU, wholed the small study that is published in today's issue of 'AmericanJournal of Health Education.'
Hawks has had his own long-term experience with intuitive eating,and the result has been a 50-pound weight loss and improved healthand fitness, he says.
A 'classic yo-yo dieter,' he says he lost a lot of weight byrestricting calories but always gained it back, only to begin again.When he started teaching a class about healthy weight management 15years ago, calorie counting was at the forefront, but he found itdissatisfying and probably not the answer for his students. Hedecided to learn to follow his body's cues, eating what and when hewanted, based on hunger. 'The weight came off easily, and I havemaintained a very stable weight.'
Fast forward: BYU researchers developed an intuitive eating scale,which they published as part of earlier research. They based thecurrent study on two groups of people:
Those who scored high on intuitive eating and those who were atthe other end. The latter tend to be dieters who use 'externalstructure to determine how much they eat,' he says.
They looked at differences in health outcomes, including BMI,levels of good and bad cholesterol (LDL and HDL respectively) andtriglycerides, all relevant to cardiovascular risk.
'It turned out intuitive eaters have a lower BMI than those whowere not. About a third of the variance is a function of intuitiveeating rather than people dieting or more external food-based plans,'Hawks says. 'We found HDL, the good cholesterol, tended to be higher,triglycerides tended to be lower. Based on the overall blood lipidprofiles, intuitive eaters have lower cardiovascular risk thannonintuitive eaters. It seems to be positively associated with thehealth measures we looked at.'
The study is too small to be definitive, but it's tantalizingevidence that more research needs to be done, he says.
While Hawks can't say definitely that intuitive eating leads tolower body weight, studies by various researchers over the years showthat people who begin to diet at a younger age (females more oftenthan males) actually tend to gain weight. 'Intuitive eating may be away to head that cycle off,' he says, 'by stopping kids from becomingdieters in the first place. Dieting may be a key contributor toweight gain. People need to get into a more healthy relationship withfood.'
It's particularly important because the American culture puts alot of pressure on women to diet, even women who are not overweight.'They are trying to lose weight when there's no health reason to doso,' he says. 'Instead, it may encourage weight gain andpreoccupation with food,' and even spawn eating disorders.
Those in the BYU study came in all different body types, he says,but the high scorers for intuitive eating, regardless of body type,had lower BMI and fewer concerns about weight or food.
Two attitudes and two behaviors are the core of intuitive eating.First is body acceptance and the attitude that dieting is harmful,Hawks says. Then people must learn how to not eat for emotional,environmental or social reasons and learn how to interpret their ownbody signals, such as cravings and hunger, and how to respond in ahealthy way.
While this study focuses on the health benefits of intuitiveeating, the researchers are also studying whether it can be taught tothose who don't normally eat that way. The answer seems to be yes.
Intuitive eaters tend to enjoy food more, he says. They 'tend notto have a lot of cravings. When they want something, they have it.People with a lot of food taboos and rules have a lot of cravings andwhen they give into it, they go overboard.' And contrary to what manypeople expect, intuitive eating actually increases control over food,rather than lessens it.
The take-home message, Hawks says, is that his profession, publichealth, 'continues to promote dietary restraint as the best way tomanage the obesity epidemic. If you go to any Web site, you'llquickly find articles about counting calories. I hope we can begin toopen a new way, that restrictive dieting is not necessarily the bestapproach to take, since it seems to compound the problem.'
Next, Hawks plans to do a large-scale study across severalcultures of intuitive eating, which he calls a 'nurturing approach tonutrition, health and fitness as opposed to a regulated, coercive,restrictive approach.'
The research team included Hawks, Hala Madanat, Jaylyn Hawks andAshley Harris.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com
