What is driving you to choose to eat sometimes has nothing to do with actually being hungry? Many of you eat not because you are hungry, but because you have an emotional relationship with food. I recently learned from food psychologist Eric Edmeades that there are six types of human hunger out of which only one should actually drive you to eat.
1. Nutritional hunger: The true hunger, kick in when your body is saying “I am empty of nutrients. This hunger occurs when the body is asking for specific nutrients. However, your body is taught to eat anything in sight, so be careful. Nutritional hunger is not always communicated in an honest way.
2. Thirst: This hunger arises when you are dehydrated. Upon dehydration your brain sends a signal “go eat something, you are dehydrated”. So, when you are thirsty, you eat, and instead of eating something rich in water, you eat crap, like potato chips that make you even more hungry. But instead of munching, if you drink some water, the hunger may go away.
3. Variety: Craving variety is an evolutionary protective mechanism against relying on a single food source. Cravings are a natural way of ensuring that you get a range of nutrients in your diet. So, when you think you are hungry, you may just be craving something a little different.
4. Low blood sugar: This is a common issue in this day and age – and is often mistaken for hunger. The temptation will be to go after really high glycemic index foods like processed food and beverages. This simply floods your blood with sugar. This is dealt with best by avoiding low-quality sugars in your diet. Your overall intake, even from fruit, should be seasonal.
5. Emotional hunger: Emotional eating is when you’re eating food for some reason other than your physical sustenance. This is one of the most common and dangerous forms of dysfunctional eating. People eat memories, so food is often used to satisfy an emotion. The way you live today leads to a lot of emotional emptiness – which you often fill with food. The food industry knows how to market to your emotions, so you need to learn to fill your emotions up with other activities.
6. Empty stomach hunger: Having an empty stomach is healthy since that allows the digestive system to have a rest. Empty stomach hunger is a survival strategy and it is designed so that when it is empty, your behavioral response is to look around – if you see food, you should eat it. But this is not hunger…. it is just a feeling. Stop and examine your feeling in the morning. It’s not hunger, it’s just a physical sensation. If your feeling of an empty stomach gets too strong, have a glass of water. Your stomach is designed to stretch because you are used to living in feast and famine conditions.
Dr. Charmi Shah
Comments