A diet based on an ancient philosophy dating back to the interface via the Tik Talk platform, dozens of videos depicted for influencers talking about “intuitive eating” or “cognitive”, and hundreds of thousands of followers and commentators call for a review of the relationship with food and abandoning harsh diets.
What is cognitive eating?
Cognitive eating is not a new system, but it was popular recently as a solution to reconcile with the body and understand it instead of forcibly subjecting it to harsh experiences that may be backward.
In the seventies of the last century, beauty and fashion trends tend to encourage excessive thinness in what was known as “the beauty of heroin”, and there was an obsession with losing weight and following strict or strange food systems.
In 1995, as a result of an increasing awareness of the negative impact of strict diets on mental and physical health, the two nutrition experts presented Evelyn Tripol and Eles Rish as a book entitled “Intuitive Eating … an anti -dietary revolution.”
The book appealed to readers to give up harsh diets and focus instead on the patterns of hunger and natural satiety in their bodies.
The book – according to a report on the “ABC” network – appeared as a result of the realization of the two experts, the useless diet that they described to patients, they described systems that depend on calories and specific food meals, but some patients were facing difficulty in adhering to the systems and weight loss, which affected their self -confidence and their physical image.
In the ABC report, the specialist Tribol said that she discovered that people should not be dictated to what they eat “but rather to help them understand what is happening in their bodies, and made them live in a continuous process instead of walking in a straight line.”
Tribol saw with feathers that traditional calorie diets make people obsessed with eating, and in this opinion they relied on research on the psychological effects of food deprivation and control, so their way to spread the idea of ”cognitive eating”.
It is a conscious approach to dining that encourages individuals to control natural hunger signals in their bodies rather than adhere to restricted diets.
This philosophy enhances a healthy relationship with food and body image, and the essence of intuitive eating lies in the distinction between physical and emotional hunger, encouraging individuals to give priority to physical needs with the management of their emotional desires.
Ten rules
The intuitive eating approach consists of 10 directive principles that calls for redefining food and the person’s relationship with it without deprivation, and intuitive food focuses on how to eat and not what it is, where individuals teach restoring their intuition about food to learn how to meet their desires and understand their hunger signs, and a report on the BBC mentioned these principles:
1- Rejection of the diet’s mentality
Not to be deceived by the culture of thinness and fast fever, as it is ineffective in the long term and harmful to physical and psychological health.
2- Respect hunger
The need to respond to hunger signs when they appear and not ignore them based on the timing or external rules.
3- Reconciliation with food
All foods are allowed, and they should not be classified “good” or “bad”, so enjoying them is a natural part of a healthy relationship with eating.
4- Get rid of guilt
Review the strict ideas and rules that govern the relationship with food, and get rid of the guilt associated with it.
5- Respecting satiety
Stop eating when feeling comfortable full, and training the soul slowly and consciously.
6- Discover satisfaction
Food testing a person, and providing a comfortable environment when eating to achieve real pleasure and satisfaction.
7- Dealing with feelings without always resorting to food
It is normal to use food to rest sometimes, but it is important to develop alternative ways to deal with feelings, and realize that food does not improve them.
8- Respecting the body
Accept the shape of the body as it is, stay away from unrealistic beauty standards, and focus on body care not to change it.
9- Practice movement
Practicing physical activity for a good feeling, not only to lose weight.
10- Respecting health with gentle nutrition
Flexible and nutritious nutrition without seeking perfection, fun and diversity are part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
Legitimate criticism
Despite the increasing popularity of intuitive food, he faced criticism on social media platforms, as some considered that it seems only for people with skinny bodies.
Some also expressed their reservation, considering that this approach may ignore weight regulating and does not attach importance to the benefits of losing it to some.
Other criticisms of the distortion of his message, as he sometimes promoted as a means of losing weight, even though his innovations emphasized that his results differ from one person to another, and that some will lose weight through his followers and others will maintain their weight as it is.
The message of intuitive eating sometimes was distorted even by the desired.
Dietician Tribol warned against reducing the idea by some to just “all when hunger and stopped at satiety”, stressing that the intuitive eating is a journey that includes all its ten principles.
Tripol indicated that he was sometimes understood as an invitation to eat fast food freely, but the basic idea – as she emphasized – is to be free from guilt towards food, which enables the individual to make balanced and personal dietary decisions based on comfort and awareness, not for restriction and punishment.
How to build a healthy relationship with food?
In 2025 advocates advocated to accept the body and influencers on tuk -tuk against strict diets to establish a positive relationship with food, which is the same as what the Flon Hills Foundation for the treatment of eating disorders is recommended, through:
1- Begin in small steps:
Adjust hunger and satiety signals, and write down the diaries to track the effect of various foods on the physical and psychological state.
2- Get rid of food rules:
Allowing the soul to eat various foods without issuing judgments, focusing on the quantity.
3- Giving priority to the fun movement:
Transforming the focus from exercise as a way to burn calories to enjoyable activities.
4- Request for support:
Working with specialists who practice intuitive eating principles for guidance.
5- Practice sympathy with the soul:
The realization that changing firm beliefs requires some time.
