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Writer's pictureRosalba Randal

HUNGERS AND CRAVINGS: WHERE THEY COME FROM?

ARE ALL THE CRAVINGS REAL

LY HUNGER?


Hunger. What is hunger? While the feeling of hunger is familiar to all of us, as a request form the body to eat and satisfy a physiological need. But in fact, this need is not always physiological, some times we feel hungry as a strategy to try to meet an emotional need.


The reasons behind filling hungry are often different from one person to another and also from one circumstance to another. In this short summary I made a list and short explanation of 6 different kind of hunger that we can feel, the reasons and how we can deal with them in a healthy and supportive way towards the body and its needs


1. NUTRITIONAL HUNGER: It’s the only genuine kind of hunger. It occurs when the body is asking for specific type of nutrients that are lacking in the body. Example the body is tot getting enough minerals, vitamins or specific amino acids. The body ask for food expecting that we are giving it will have these elements. Sometimes we don't see a real reason to be hungry, for example if soon after we ate , we feel craving. This is an indication that we lack some thing or that the food we just ate does not meet the body's needs.. It is important to have information around how these deficiencies are showing in our body and eat the food that replenishes us with those.

When the food consume is full of simple carbohydrates with high Glycaemic Index, the body processes it fast and therefore request for more food intake sooner . This is why is important to consume complex carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats.


2. THIRST: Our ancestors used to get plenty of water through food because it was mainly fresh fruit and vegetables. our physiological body remembers that having food supplies us with good amount of water, but the food that most of us consume at the present moment does not provide good amount of water, there fore we need to drink it by itself. A good advice is when we feel hungry and there is no reason because we just have eaten, drink some water, its very possible thirst instead of hunger. Increasing the intake of fruit and juicy vegetables will also provide us with water making the feeling full lasting and preventing cravings and hunger.


3. VARIETY: Eating a variety of food is an evolutionary protective mechanism against depending on only one small source/range of food. We have evolve to eat an extensive range of food. It is normal and very important fact that the body crave for variety, because that way, it ensures that will get enough of macro and micronutrients. A suggestion is to check if our diet is as wide as possible to ensure the body is getting enough to function healthy. Implementing new items in your diet will make your body more resilient, versatile and less hungry.


4. LOW BLOOD SUGAR: This is very common now days since we have a diet bases on sugar and simple carbohydrates that release quickly in the body. It makes the body crave for more since it makes the insulin going up., making the blood sugar low and therefore intensify the feeling of hunger. It is important to cut down or replace quick release carbohydrates like: sugar, processed grains and food in general and and increase the intake of complex carbohydrates coming from vegetables, and nuts. They release slow into the body and make you feel full for longer periods of time.


5. EMOTIONAL HUNGER: This is the most common and dangerous cause of dysfunctional eating. It is linked to many factors like the subconscious links that we have with food like: rewards, home, celebrations, consolation. When our emotional needs are not met and we fell emotions like sadness, anger, home sickness very often we turn into food as a way to compensate, especially if we have some childhood patterns associated to food. The food industry knows it well and it plays through its advs with our emotional fragilities. That is why they promote unhealthy food as ways for us to access healthy emotion, it becomes a vicious circle, because food does not meet our emotional needs and the more processed food we eat the hungrier we will feel. It makes a vicious circle in our eating patterns,


6. EMPTY STOMACH HUNGER: This is also an evolutionary strategy. When our ancestors had the stomach empty, they started to look around for food, because they had to go and hunt and collect. Our Physiological setting is programmed to eat when and because we are hungry. Our ancestors did not have the full time, full range accessibility to food that we have at the present, we can eat any time and many different food almost anywhere in the world.

This is the hunger that we feel probably in the morning or when we have been fasting for a good period of time. It is important to attend this kind of hunger, providing the body with fluids before eating.

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