6 Ways to Practice Intuitive Eating for Diabetes

Mindful or intuitive eating can help you have a healthier, happier relationship with food.

Even if you feel you’re coping well with a diabetes diagnosis, the early days of blood sugar management can be a confusing, emotionally fraught time.

In the Bezzy forums, it’s not uncommon for people to report that they find themselves binge eating, barely eating at all, or spiraling down a rabbit hole of perfecting portion sizes, carb counts, or fasting glucose numbers.

A gentle dietary strategy can help restore emotional and physical balance: intuitive eating. This approach, guided by 10 body-conscious principles, holds evidence-based promise for better glycemic control and greater psychological well-being, according to research from 2021.

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What is intuitive eating?

Intuitive eating is often mistaken for mindful eating. While the two have lots of overlap, they’re not exactly the same.

While mindful eating focuses on giving food your full attention and using all your senses, intuitive eating takes things a step further, addressing big-picture beliefs about food and the body.

Developed by dietitians Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole, intuitive eating focuses on core principles like rejecting a diet mentality, honoring your health, and respecting your body.

Does intuitive eating sound like a winning strategy for less stress and more peace with food? The following tips can help you apply intuitive eating principles to your diabetes journey.

1. Respect your body

This foundational principle of intuitive eating says that your body is totally unique, with its very own genetic blueprint. If your genetics haven’t designed you to be a certain size or shape, it’s going to be extremely difficult (or downright impossible) to attain those “ideals.”

With diabetes, respecting your body might involve fully accepting your diagnosis. That doesn’t mean you’ll always be happy with your body, but it also means you shouldn’t neglect it either.

Instead, try making peace with the body you have. Life looks a lot brighter when you love your whole self — diabetes and all. 

2. Enjoy your fullness

Imagine your satisfaction after a delicious, filling meal — doesn’t it feel so good? A 2017 study found that eating triggers the release of endorphins in the brain, giving us those happy vibes.

If living with diabetes makes food feel like a minefield, consider taking a little time after meals to revel in the glow of a pleasantly full belly. It may help you build a more positive relationship with food.

3. Make time for movement

The principles of intuitive eating don’t just involve what we put in our mouths — they also offer guidance for physical movement. Intuitive eating founders encourage focusing on how exercise makes you feel rather than how many calories it’s burning.

This is especially appropriate for diabetes. Exercise can be an effective way to lower blood sugar, according to the American Diabetes Association. Keeping blood sugar in the black can definitely help you feel well.

Find a form of physical activity you genuinely enjoy and get moving!

4. Give yourself permission to eat when you’re hungry

Diabetes can sometimes make you feel afraid to eat, not knowing what foods will send your blood sugar haywire. Not surprisingly, some people end up skipping meals for this reason.

However, both intuitive eating and diabetes experts emphasize the importance of eating on a steady schedule. Eating regularly helps keep blood sugar stable, and “honor your hunger” is one of the top 10 principles of intuitive eating.

Unless directed otherwise by your doctor, you have permission to eat when you’re hungry.

Of course, “permission” isn’t carte blanche to overdo it on high-sugar or highly processed foods. To manage your diabetes, focus your eating on lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables as much as possible.

5. Rethink your internal dialogue

With diabetes, it’s easy to fall into believing that certain foods are “good” or “bad” on an almost moral level (and that we ourselves are good or bad for choosing them). But language has power — and when we think in these black-and-white terms, it can become counterproductive or even create fear of certain foods.

Consider reshaping your thinking about the moral value of your eating. Food is just food.

Yes, some choices are better for your blood sugar than others, but it doesn’t make them intrinsically bad. Often, you can even enjoy them in moderation. When you do, you may prove to yourself that the pleasure they bring is a very good thing.

6. Offer yourself kindness

Type 2 diabetes or not, we all make mistakes around food. Sometimes, especially in the early days of a diagnosis, you may turn to behaviors like binge eating or intentionally missing your meals.

Perhaps it’s time to look deeper at these choices. What’s really motivating them?

When you can understand your “why,” it’s easier to offer yourself kindness and forgiveness. Leave the past in the past, knowing you won’t continue to guilt yourself about it. From there, start fresh down the path toward better self-care.

Takeaway

The principles of intuitive eating apply to everyone, but they can be especially welcome for people with type 2 diabetes.

This condition comes with some serious ups and downs — both emotional and physical. Practice an intuitive approach to food to get through the journey with greater peace and a healthier, happier relationship with food.