Adherence
Implementing an intuitive eating approach (eating when hungry, stopping when full, no food restrictions) results in weight maintenance rather than significant weight loss in overweight/obese individuals, while significantly improving psychological health indicators.
Focus on eating when you are physically hungry and stopping when you are comfortably full, without labeling foods as 'good' or 'bad'. This approach is unlikely to result in significant weight loss or increased physical activity, but it may help maintain your current weight and significantly improve your psychological well-being, body image, and relationship with food. It requires practice to distinguish true hunger from emotional or environmental cues.
From the clinical studies, we conclude that the implementation of intuitive eating results in weight maintenance but perhaps not weight loss, improved psychological health, possibly improved physical health indicators other than BMI (e.g. blood pressure; cholesterol levels) and dietary intake and/or eating behaviours, but probably not higher levels of physical activity.
Why this rating
Based on 8 RCTs and 17 cross-sectional studies, though sample sizes are often small and demographics homogeneous (Caucasian women).
Source
Review Article Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators: literature review
Nina Van Dyke et al. · Public Health Nutrition · 2013
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