Diet quality is a major determinant of health, yet sustained improvement in eating habits may be difficult to achieve when nutrition guidance relies mainly on restrictive or prescriptive dietary models. Mindful eating has increasingly been considered a complementary behavioral approach in the field of nutrition and dietetics because it emphasizes non-judgmental awareness of sensory experiences, internal bodily sensations, emotional responses, and eating-related cues. This work aimed to synthesize current evidence on the relationship between mindful eating and diet quality and to evaluate its practical implications for nutrition and dietetics practice. Current literature indicates that mindful eating is a multidimensional construct rather than a single uniform behavior, and its specific dimensions may be differently associated with dietary outcomes. Observational studies from diverse populations generally suggest that higher mindful eating is associated with healthier dietary patterns, lower energy intake, greater adherence to dietary guidelines, higher Mediterranean diet scores, and lower ultra-processed food consumption. However, evidence from randomized intervention studies remains less definitive regarding direct improvements in diet quality, energy intake, or anthropometric outcomes. More consistent benefits have been reported for eating-related processes, including reduced emotional eating, improved external eating behaviors, better self-regulation, and increased food-related awareness. These findings suggest that mindful eating may contribute to healthier dietary behaviors primarily by improving the psychological and behavioral processes underlying food choices. Nevertheless, causal interpretation is limited by the predominance of cross-sectional evidence, heterogeneity in measurement tools, and frequent reliance on self-reported dietary intake. Overall, mindful eating appears to be a promising adjunctive strategy that may complement evidence-based nutrition education and counseling, but it should not be regarded as a stand-alone substitute for structured dietary guidance. Future longitudinal and well-designed intervention studies using standardized tools and objective dietary assessments are needed.
Ilhan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.