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Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates.

Scientific reports
January 1, 1970
Alyssa Torske et al. (5 authors)
Clinical TrialJournal ArticleHuman StudyClinical
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to investigate whether a 31-day web-based mindfulness meditation training could reduce stress- and emotional-eating tendencies and food cravings in meditation-naïve individuals prone to stress-eating.

Results Summary

Mindfulness meditation training significantly increased mindfulness while reducing stress- and emotional-eating tendencies and food cravings compared to health training. These behavioral changes were associated with functional connectivity changes in brain regions linked to reward, emotion regulation, and sensory integration.

Population

Meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat (N = 66).

Effective Dosage

Not specified (web-based mindfulness meditation training).

Duration

31 days.

Interactions

None mentioned.

Extracted Claims (10)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
mindfulness meditation
decrease
stress
-
-
has been demonstrated to reduce
#1
mindfulness meditation
increase
interoceptive awareness
-
-
has been demonstrated to increase
#2
mindfulness meditation training
increase
mindfulness
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
was found to significantly increase
#3
mindfulness meditation training
decrease
stress-eating tendencies
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
reducing
#4
mindfulness meditation training
decrease
emotional-eating tendencies
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
reducing
#5
mindfulness meditation training
decrease
food cravings
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
reducing
#6
mindfulness meditation training
change
functional connectivity between the hypothalamus, reward regions, and several areas of the default mode network
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
accompanied by functional connectivity changes
#7
mindfulness meditation training
change
functional connectivity between the insula and somatosensory areas
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
changes observed
#8
mindfulness meditation training
change
functional connectivity between seed regions (i.e., hypothalamus and insula) and brain areas attributed to emotion regulation, awareness, attention, and sensory integration
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
Additional changes observed
#9
mindfulness meditation training
correlation
behavioral changes
meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat
-
correlated with
#10
Abstract

Stress-related overeating can lead to excessive weight gain, increasing the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Mindfulness meditation has been demonstrated to reduce stress and increase interoceptive awareness and could, therefore, be an effective intervention for stress-related overeating behavior. To investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress-eating behavior, meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat (N = 66) participated in either a 31-day, web-based mindfulness meditation training or a health training condition. Behavioral and resting-state fMRI data were acquired before and after the intervention. Mindfulness meditation training, in comparison to health training, was found to significantly increase mindfulness while simultaneously reducing stress- and emotional-eating tendencies as well as food cravings. These behavioral results were accompanied by functional connectivity changes between the hypothalamus, reward regions, and several areas of the default mode network in addition to changes observed between the insula and somatosensory areas. Additional changes between seed regions (i.e., hypothalamus and insula) and brain areas attributed to emotion regulation, awareness, attention, and sensory integration were observed. Notably, these changes in functional connectivity correlated with behavioral changes, thereby providing insight into the underlying neural mechanisms of the effects of mindfulness on stress-eating.Clinical trial on the ISRCTN registry: trial ID ISRCTN12901054.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
HumansAttentionHyperphagiaMagnetic Resonance ImagingMeditationMindfulnessSensorimotor Cortex
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy85/10
Quality80/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations2
Citations/Year2.0
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.50
Weight Score1.48
Normalized Score0.70
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