Reduce Weight and Cardiovascular Disease Risk with Mindfulness
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“since stress is often at the root of overeating, mindfulness seems to make us eat better meals, which means it’s likely possible to lose weight without dieting.” – Mandy Oaklander
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined. “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths. Every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack.” (Centers for Disease Control). A myriad of treatments has been developed for heart disease including a variety of surgical procedures and medications. In addition, lifestyle changes have proved to be effective including quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses. Stress reduction is a key lifestyle change in treating heart conditions as stress can lead to increased physiological arousal including increased blood pressure that can exacerbate the patient’s condition
Contemplative practices, such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga, have also been shown to be helpful for heart health. In addition, mindfulness practices have also been shown to be helpful for producing the kinds of other lifestyle changes needed such as smoking cessation and weight reduction. They are particularly helpful for stress reduction, decreasing the psychological and physiological responses to stress. So, it would make sense to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness practices in the treatment of cardiac patients. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Weight Loss and CVD Risk Management.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5386400/
Fulwiler and colleagues review and summarize the published research literature on the effects of mindfulness training on cardiovascular disease risk.
One way to reduce cardiovascular disease risk is weight reduction. They report that the literature does not find mindfulness training by itself to be effective in reducing weight. But, when mindfulness training involves development of specific skills such as mindful eating skills or in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) then it produces significant weight reduction. Another risk factor is cigarette smoking and they find that the literature reports that mindfulness training is effective for quitting and remaining abstinent. Another way to reduce cardiovascular disease risk is blood pressure reduction and increasing physical activity. They report that the published studies find that mindfulness training is effective in reducing blood pressure and increasing in physical activity.
Hence, the published studies find that mindfulness training is effective in reducing cardiovascular disease risk by reducing body weight, smoking, blood pressure, and increasing physical activity. These are important findings that suggest that mindfulness training reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease and as a result increase longevity. Mindfulness training probably has these effects primarily by reducing the physiological and psychological responses to stress and by encouraging present moment awareness of the physical state and sensations such as taste and smell.
So, reduce weight and cardiovascular disease risk with mindfulness.
“Applied to eating, mindfulness includes noticing the colors, smells, flavors, and textures of your food; chewing slowly; getting rid of distractions like TV or reading; and learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food.” – Harvard Health
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Fulwiler, C., Brewer, J. A., Sinnott, S., & Loucks, E. B. (2015). Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Weight Loss and CVD Risk Management. Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports, 9(10), 46. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-015-0474-1
Abstract
Obesity affects more than one-third of U.S. adults and is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality, primarily from cardiovascular disease. Traditional behavioral interventions for weight loss typically focus on diet and exercise habits and often give little attention to the role of stress and emotions in the initiation and maintenance of unhealthy behaviors, which may account for their modest results and considerable variability in outcomes. Stress eating and emotional eating are increasingly recognized as important targets of weight loss interventions. Mindfulness-based interventions were specifically developed to promote greater self-efficacy in coping with stress and negative emotions, and appear to be effective for a variety of conditions. In recent years researchers have begun to study mindfulness interventions for weight loss and CVD risk management. This review describes the rationale for the use of mindfulness in interventions for weight loss and CVD risk management, summarizes the research to date, and suggests priorities for future research.
