An Alternative Approach to Nutrition: Intuitive Eating

Abstract

Intuitive eating is the act of eating in response to physiological hunger and satiety signals. In intuitive eating, environmental and emotional events are not affected, and it is possible to display intuitive eating behavior only by responding to bodily signals. Medical nutrition is a primary method in the treatment of obesity, the prevalence of which is increasing day by day. After medical nutrition therapy, drug therapy and surgical intervention come to mind. In addition to these medical interventions, intuitive eating and eating awareness practices, which are proposed approaches, are also methods with a high level of success in preventing obesity. In this review, the approaches to intuitive eating and the factors affecting intuitive eating behavior are discussed. Emotional eating theories, factors affecting emotional eating, and risk factors are emphasized, and the relationship between intuitive eating and emotional eating is examined. An inverse relationship was found between emotional eating and intuitive eating behaviors, and it was concluded that as the awareness of eating increased, the level of intuitive eating increased and emotional eating behavior decreased. Making peace with food is one of the basic principles of intuitive eating; it has been observed that the behavior of eating without any prejudice and without classifying foods as good or bad increases nutritional pleasure, and it has been concluded that individuals with eating behavior disorders, especially consuming foods that are described as “forbidden,” reduce their eating attacks.