Eating mindfully could help your heart. In a small study, researchers found that those who were taught and practiced mindful eating skills were much healthier overall. “People in the mindfulness group lost an average of 3.7 pounds more than people in the control group. That effect wasn’t statistically significantly different from those in the control group. But when they looked at certain risk factors for type-2 diabetes and heart disease—including fasting glucose levels a year after the program ended and triglyceride levels a year after the program began—they did find a significant difference. Those improvements were likely due to lower stress, weight loss or better food choices, the authors speculate.” Mindful eating is the practice of recognizing and separating emotions from hunger so you can understand when you’re really hungry and eat only the amount your body needs.