Intuitive eating: is it right for you?

Intuitive eating is a philosophy that rejects restrictive diets, encouraging you to be an expert on your own body. With nothing off the menu, this approach to eating encourages you to tune into your body’s hunger cues, to eat and enjoy food and stop eating when you’re full. But how does this ‘anti-diet’ way of eating work? And is it right for you?

At its core, intuitive eating allows you to enjoy your food for fuel and nourishment without relying on it for emotional comfort.

Put simply, physical hunger is a biological need for food, where you might feel your stomach growl, feel lightheaded or notice a dip in your energy levels.

Emotional hunger is when your need to eat is driven by emotions like stress, boredom or sadness.

The idea of intuitive eating is to know the difference. This means you have to ‘unlearn’ everything diet culture has taught you and trust your body’s intuition to tell you whether you’re actually hungry, or simply craving food to meet an emotional need.

Alongside helping you develop a more balanced and enjoyable relationship with food, research has shown that intuitive eating can also boost your mental wellbeing. One study¹, which looked at the long-term benefits of intuitive eating, found that it could help overcome or improve:

• depressive symptoms
• self-esteem and body image issues
• binge eating
• unhealthy weight control behaviours
• extreme weight control behaviours.

Diets often encourage restricting certain foods such as carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes), sugar, and dairy. But deeming foods ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in this way often leads you to develop a guilty association with them.

According to intuitive eating principles, you need to ‘make peace’ with food by removing the restrictions that you’ve placed on it. Tell yourself that it’s OK to eat what you want to eat. Enjoy your food while you are eating it, including its smell, flavours, textures and colours.

Of course, this isn’t to say you should eat to excess! But by creating a positive relationship with food, you should be able to instinctively understand what your body wants and needs, which in turn may help you to make healthier decisions.

Intuitive eating can be beneficial for those seeking a healthier relationship with food and their body. Eating intuitively requires a degree of awareness and self-awareness that comes to some people more easily than others. If you've been dieting for a long time, for example, you might find it hard to trust your body at first, but while it may take time and effort to unlearn ingrained habits, it's possible to develop a more intuitive relationship with food.

Note: Intuitive eating is generally not recommended for those with active eating disorders, as they may find it too difficult to trust their hunger and fullness cues.

Intuitive eating is all about following your body’s cues, but it does require some discipline, practice and patience. Here are 5 ways to get started:

1. Reject the dieting mentality and recognise that restrictive diets are unsustainable in the long term.
2. Respect the food on your plate by appreciating it, chewing slowly and eating mindfully².
3. Only eat when you’re actually hungry and stop when you’re full.
4. Find more sustainable and caring ways to deal with negative emotions, such as reading, meditating, calling a friend for a chat or going for a walk. Your GP can help with extra support around emotional eating.
5. Be kind to yourself. Respecting your relationship with food also means respecting yourself. Love the body you’re in, regardless of its shape and size.

If you’re starting an intuitive eating journey, it helps to talk to an Accredited Practising Dietitian or doctor first, particularly if you have a history of disordered eating or mental health issues.

Eating Disorders Victoria provides information and free and confidential peer support online.

The Butterfly Foundation offers free and confidential support online via chat and email, and on their national helpline at 1800 33 4673.

Lifeline Australia offers 24/7 crisis support online and on the phone at 13 11 14.

Beyond Blue offers 24/7 mental health information and support online and on the phone at 1300 224 636.