Cognitions are simply the procedures the human brain undergoes to understand the world around it. Dysfunctional cognitions are then procedures that are unfit/unqualified for the situation/environment they are existing in, and thus provide either no help or negative effects toward the situation/environment at hand. 

University of Toledo

Mindfulness practice has the potential to help alleviate eating disorders through its effect on maladaptive cognitive and affective processes. Dysfunctional cognitions fuel negative ideas of personhood or self-worth (such as, negative thoughts of personal weight and shape). These negative thoughts can lead to negative eating behaviors such as binging, purging, or restricted eating habits. Mindfulness techniques are then used as a means of expressing to the individuals that their thoughts are only temporary and do not require immediate self-intervention to mend. Therefore, mindfulness reduces the impact of dysfunctional cognitions on individuals, and thus alleviates/treats some of the mechanisms that support eating disorders.

Alleviates/Treats Eating Disorders

Tsai, A., Hughes, E. K., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Buck, K., & Krug, I. (2017, September 27). The differential effects of mindfulness and distraction on affect and body satisfaction following food consumption. Frontiers in psychology. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5623713/.

The Differential Effects of Mindfulness and Distraction on Affect and Body Satisfaction Following Food Consumption

There are currently only a handful of studies that have been conducted relating mindfulness to food consumption and/or eating disorders. It's then hard to determine how accurate our current understandings and findings of this topic are. 

Also, it should be noted that of the few studies within this specific niche, they have all be conducted using a variety of different hypotheses and experimental methods. Each study is most likely attempting to find their own conclusions, which will yield a variety of different and possibly contradicting information.

Limitations of Mindfulness Practice in Relation to Eating Disorders

Dysfunctional/Maladaptive Cognitions

The current goal of mindfulness practice within individuals with ED is not to "cure" the disorder itself. Rater, it is to give individuals the tools they need in order to reduce the impact of dysfunctional cognitions that lead to their ED.

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