Impact of Sattvic Mindful Eating on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Among College-Going Students and Youth

Background: In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, college students and youth often experience elevated levels of psychological distress, including stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindful eating combined with a Sattvic diet a natural, balanced, and plant-based dietary approach rooted in Indian tradition offers a non-pharmacological method to support mental well-being. Aim: To study the impact of Sattvic Mindful Eating on stress, anxiety, and depression among college-going students and youth. Method: A total of 100 participants were selected through stratified random sampling from an initial pool of 149 individuals identified using the snowball sampling technique. They were divided into two equal groups (experimental and control) with balanced gender representation. The experimental group received a prescribed Sattvic diet with mindful eating instructions, while the control group received no intervention. Outcome Measure: The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales–21 (DASS-21) was administered to both groups before and after the intervention to assess levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Results: Statistical analysis using the unpaired t-test showed significant reductions in the experimental group’s mean scores: stress decreased by 23.42%, anxiety by 21.68%, and depression by 23.68%. The calculated t-values for all three variables were higher than the critical value at the 5% significance level, confirming that the null hypothesis could be rejected. The control group, in contrast, showed a slight increase in stress, anxiety, and depression levels. Conclusion: Sattvic Mindful Eating significantly reduced stress, anxiety, and depression among youth. It appears to be an effective, natural, and holistic approach to improve mental health, particularly in college-going populations.