Intuitive eating, or also called “anti-diet”, is a nutritional approach that aims at a healthy diet for everyone, without the aim of changing the body, starting from a neutral and respectful body model towards the individual, far from constraints and restrictions maintenance allowance. What it promotes through its principles is nothing other than a healthy and flexible diet.
However, the fact that it does not ban foods does not mean that it encourages excessive consumption of foods with the lowest nutritional quality. It just doesn’t punish them or appeal to the individual’s freedom of information, nor does it promote obesity. Body size is outside of his principles, every body regardless of size is respected simply for the fact that it exists.
The consumption of highly processed foods is not encouraged, but neither is it penalized, which is the complete opposite. Maybe it’s because you understand nutrition from an individual perspective. For example, for someone who suffers from an eating disorder, eating this industrial bread is an improvement. At the same time, it understands the situation of families with limited economic resources who, even if they know that these are not the healthiest foods in the world, can offer their children what therefore does not make them feel guilty.
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It is precisely for this reason that it distances health from a “merit” that the individual can provide themselves. There are many other factors beyond his control that determine his health, such as: his place of birth, socioeconomic conditions, access to health care… They are committed to public health policies so that well-being is guaranteed for everyone accessible in society. Same basic measure, not based on our purchasing power.
This approach focuses on returning to the intuitive eater we are all born with, who eats when hungry and stops eating when full, who respects his biological signals and does not silence them to achieve the success that slimness promises.
A dining room that takes care of your body and your health out of respect and not fear. If you don’t feel guilty because eating is a pleasure, you neither reward nor punish yourself. The model proposes reconnecting with our bodies and from there managing food on a nutritional basis. What he can be accused of is advocating for respect.
Despite all its advantages, it is not a valid model in all circumstances because, like everything in life, it has its advantages and disadvantages. It is not recommended for the following diseases:
- For eating disorders: Hunger and satiety signals are changed. Depending on what stage of recovery the patient is in, there may be a complete contraindication. For example, if we told patients with anorexia, who have inhibited hunger signals and early satiety, to eat when they are hungry and stop eating when they feel satisfied, they would eat virtually nothing. From this perspective, recovery would be impossible. Even in these cases, a conscious eating practice would be contraindicated because they, in particular, have too much focus and attention when eating and have to mechanize their eating more. Using this approach can be very dangerous in these patients. On the other hand, intuitive eating has had great results in preventing eating disorders, as well as in body acceptance.
- For bariatric surgery: After the procedure, the stomach capacity is reduced and anatomical and metabolic changes occur that must be addressed specifically. After surgery, it is important to follow a diet that provides essential nutrients and establishes an orderly intake of macronutrients. An intuitive eating approach would therefore endanger the health of these people. Treatment should be carried out by a nutritionist specializing in bariatric surgery, in addition to appropriate medical examinations and, in some cases, psychological follow-up.
- Diabetes type I and type II: Regulating blood sugar levels cannot be controlled through intuitive eating. It requires much more structured and precise dietary guidelines.
- Digestive disorders: These are the ones that require a much more demanding and controlled nutritional approach, for example in ulcerative colitis.
- Kidney diseases: Kidney patients generally have very strict dietary guidelines as controlling some minerals such as potassium is very important.
- Cancer and oncological treatment: Cancer patients are generally malnourished and lose a lot of energy and sometimes their appetite as a result of treatment. Nutritional support must provide them with very concrete guidelines for their recovery and even sabotage their lack of appetite, because if they only eat when they are hungry, they will most likely become even more malnourished and weak.
In general, this approach is not recommended when strict dietary guidelines are required to control nutrients or when feelings of hunger and satiety change. It is another tool that nutritionists can rely on, but the patient’s individual situation must always be assessed.
For me, this is undoubtedly the way to teach how to treat food and our bodies. This approach would save us a lot of headaches, body distortions, illnesses and guilt, lots of guilt. The good thing is that it is never too late to start using this approach. If your relationship with food and your body is severely damaged, this may be an ideal approach.
NOURISH WITH SCIENCE It is a section on nutrition based on scientific evidence and peer-reviewed evidence. Eating is much more than a pleasure and a necessity: diet and eating habits are now the public health factor that can help us most in preventing numerous diseases, from many types of cancer to diabetes. A team of nutritionists will help us better understand the importance of food and, thanks to science, debunk the myths that lead us to a poor diet.
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