The Risks and Benefits of Mindfulness for Weight Loss

Contrary to popular perception, the evidence for even the most well-founded benefits of mindfulness meditation is not entirely conclusive.

Interested in more? You may also want to check out my previous videos:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

[dorothyball]

I have found that focusing on what I am eating, as opposed to eating and texting or watching videos or reading, does certainly make me much more aware of what I am consuming.

[Albopepper]

Depersonalization: Looking in the mirror one morning after a year on a plant based diet & not recognizing yourself because you lost nearly 50 pounds... 😱

[raydespoir]

If practicing mindfulness i.e. meditating and focusing on your breathing leads to psychosis or psychotic breaks surely there is some kind of other issue at play mental health or otherwise.

Are we so conditioned to always be listening to or watching something, to constantly keep ourselves busy, that we can't take a few minutes just to reflect and step away from the noise? How sad.

[reimiyasaka]

I used to walk 20+ hours a week in a way that apparently turned out to be a kind of meditation. I found it helped a lot with all sorts of things, though that may also be due to the abundant exercise.
Meanwhile, last time my girlfriend tried mindfulness meditation, she had a panic attack right after, saying she felt empty and like she was staring into the void.
I wonder what might have made it work better?

[mattwilson]

Usually I find panic attacks or "extreme emptiness" to be due to lack of contact with certain thoughts/emotions lying within ones subconscious.
The emptiness is always there we just don't notice because we have preoccupations with some external device or thought pattern.

Think of it like being shown a completely new way of being that you're totally unprepared for and freak out as a result.
The goal should be to transcend not keep hiding...

[ToniInSussex]

I find some kinds of mindfulness helps me. I learned about it from someone who studied it at Oxford.

[psalms]

Curious if any studies on CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). About five years back I joined in on a meditation class and on day 3 during the session I experienced an extreme unexplainable discomfort/pain at the top/center of my head. After many scans and trips to the doctor no answer. Anyone else experienced similar situation?

[gretchenkarma]

I wonder if the studies where people experienced psychotic episodes were taking place at “Vipassana” (silent) retreats? If that were the case, there could have been several other factors contributing to mental breakdown such as being out of their home environment, having no social interaction, no outside contact, no exercise, sitting all day, change in diet, etc. So it’s an important distinction to be made. Ultimately it’s hard to study how mindfulness can affect people in daily life, and difficult to make a distinction about how mindfulness is put into practice. I’m interested in more information on the topic, as a yoga & meditation teacher myself! ✌️

[Srindal]

I think its less about all meditation being detrimental in general and more about finding the right way to do it. Ive modified my practices for a while and while breathing meditation has helped me to wake up in the morning, it doesnt help with overthinking. Even modified zen meditation is useful. Just using the concept of observe and accept reality is massive in my progress and in resolving some delusions. Im schizophrenic

[thesleepinggirl]

So, paying some attention to what you do/eat and not thoughtlessly shovelling rubbish results in weight loss or at least no gain... amazing lol

[the_experiencer_]

Some people are trying to use and others sell meditation and/or mindfulness as a pill to cure pain, and they're a tool, but one has to change many things within, not just one.

[joephillips]

Mindfulness can also result in lucid dreams, which are amazing!

[stuartblevins]

I always considered meditation to be the "safe" route to enlightenment. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that path doesn't detour into psychosis just like the entheogenic method.

[Anne-ubnq]

I wonder if potassium may play a role in the Psychosis some experience. Since most Americans are potassium deficient and one of the side effects is Psychosis. It would be awesome if there was a meditation study that could control for important nutrient deficiencies that can negatively affect mood and mental health. That way we could see if there is a connection there as well.

[GamesJoblin]

Yay there is a million of us (subscribers)! 🐱

[mickwful]

When you run there is time alone to think over things. This can help with fat control .

[nyx]

This is quite odd to me, as meditation has helped my perception and ability to unnatach to thoughts enormously.

Obviously it's not a perfect fix, but the benefits for me have been found to be life-changing, honestly. Before it I can swear to being a much more reactive and unaware person.

I don't believe in the witchy woo woo associated with it, but how can something that has helped so many people find peace and contentness be unviable?


Obviously this is just for weight management, but I'm interested to see how the science around it develops in the future.


As always, thanks for the vid!

[rn]

So mindfulness and meditation leads to psychosis?

[aroundandround]

I find mindfulness indispensable as the alternative is mindlessness.

[mLify]

I like meditation to help me sleep, but I've tried several different types of mindful eating and none of them work for weight loss. It's also too exhausting to maintain long term when you have to notice every texture, color, flavor, smell, and sound of every single bite of every single part of every single meal, or ask yourself a long series of decision tree questions every time you think you might possibly feel hungry. No thanks.