Does intuitive eating really work?

It’s the phrase on everyone’s lips – when they’re not chowing down. But is eating what you want when you want it a recipe for wellbeing or a slippery slope?

Those of a Monica Geller-esque nature will argue that well-placed rules make life more fun, but more and more people are shrugging off healthy-eating statutes and choosing to, well, go with the flow. Intuitive eating is based on 10 mindset-changing principles, including ‘rejecting the diet mentality’, ‘honouring hunger’ and ‘making peace with food’. It’s related to mindful eating, which encourages you to increase your awareness of real versus emotional hunger.

Both share the aim of using your body’s in-built regulatory systems (feelings of hunger and fullness) to help you decide what, how much and when to eat, rather than following a diet plan.

It sounds like a sensible way to cut through the nutrition noise. Yet, decades of research have helped us identify the healthiest food choices – should you really ignore the science and just eat what your body tells you it needs? And what if it turns out it ‘needs’ millefeuille for breakfast?

Well, in reality, it probably won’t. Research suggests that restriction-free eating doesn’t necessarily lead to overeating or poor dietary choices. This is thanks to a process known as habituation, the idea that the more you’re exposed to certain foods, the less inviting they become. Plus, being able to discern genuine hunger from the emotional kind means you can make a choice to adopt non-food-related coping strategies, which are arguably more effective in the long term.

In the 1990s, psychologist Jean Kristeller found a six-week mindful eating programme was effective in reducing binge-eating in overweight women. Since then, various studies have confirmed that mindful eating practices can reduce emotional eating and regulate portion size in adults of all weights.

Studies of intuitive eating show similar results – less emotional eating and improved body appreciation and self-esteem. Last year, in a review of 68 studies looking at intuitive or mindful eating, researchers found evidence that it led to a reduction in problematic eating behaviours, with a positive shift in food habits and portion sizes in some cases*.

While the results look good for improving eating behaviours, the outcomes for weight loss are less clear cut. Intuitive eaters tend to have lower BMI scores than those who rely on calorie counting or external cues (like the clock) to decide when and how much to eat, but studies that looked at intuitive or mindful eating for weight loss show varying results. In one six-week study pitting intuitive eating against calorie restriction, the calorie-counters lost significantly more weight – although it’s worth bearing in mind that longer-term studies have shown better outcomes for intuitive eating.

So, should you eat intuitively? Yes, if you’re looking for a way of eating that frees you from the tyranny of chronic dieting and restriction. If weight loss is your goal, gentle education around energy balance (what you’re putting in versus what you’re burning) is useful, too, but tuning into and honouring your body’s hunger and satiety is ultimately the route to a more relaxed relationship with food.

Why do I need to wee so much after having one small drink (#notpregnant)

Is that one small drink an espresso by any chance? ‘Tea, coffee and alcohol are diuretics – this means they make you pass urine in larger volumes and more often,’ explains Dr Daniel Fenton, clinical director at London Doctors Clinic. But your brain is important, too. ‘If you’re anxious, your brain takes over and your bladder can become more sensitive,’ he adds. But if none of the above, see a doctor. It could be a UTI, but this tends to involve pain when passing urine. It could also be an STI, a sign of diabetes (often accompanied by thirst), uterine fibroids (you might also have heavy periods) or, in very rare cases, ovarian cancer. A GP visit should put your mind at ease

Meal prep feels like a waste of a summer Sunday evening – will it really make a difference to my gains?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: you can’t out-train a bad diet. Yes, meal prepping will save you money – and that’s a bonus. But the reason dietitians love it is because it takes the emotion out of eating. ‘When you’re short on time, like on your lunch break, you’re more likely to make poor choices based on your mood or what’s available,’ says nutritional therapist Sonal Shah.

‘Having a balanced, nutritious meal ready to go is always preferable to grabbing an unhealthy alternative.’ It also helps with maintenance. If time is of the essence because you’ve got better things to do than spend your evening cooking up mountains of chicken, Shah suggests using tins of protein, like beans, chickpeas and lentils, and making three or four dishes from one ingredient.

A bag of sweet potatoes could do you for some spiced wedges, hearty mash and a bowl of soup, for example. And if you really can’t face leaving your Sunday barbecue early to go home and meal prep, might we suggest making the most of the light mornings by getting up an hour earlier on Monday? We’ll pretend we didn’t see that eye-roll.

I smoked cigarettes and weed when I was younger. I haven’t touched either in five years, but will it have damaged my fertility?

If all we’re talking about here is a few puffs on the odd night out and the occasional toke on a joint, you needn’t worry about lasting damage down there. If you lit up regularly, however, it’s a bit murkier. ‘Current cigarette smokers take longer to get pregnant, have increased complications and have lower pregnancy rates after fertility treatments,’ explains Dr Sheeva Talebian, an NYC-based fertility specialist. ‘In women who used to smoke, these same findings are noted, but to a lesser degree,’ she adds. It’s also known that smoking accelerates the rate of egg loss.

Unfortunately, a lack of research means that we don’t know as much about the fertility consequences of cannabis use. ‘I think it’s very likely we’ll find a negative impact similar to that of tobacco, as smoking marijuana exposes you to some of the same toxins,’ says Dr Talebian. ‘Our reproductive organs are exposed to everything we ingest and inhale, so we can’t totally erase the consequences,’ she adds. But don’t self-flagellate: quitting is hard, and by stopping when you did, you’ll have exercised significant damage control. Now keep it up.