The Hunger Games

The Truth About Being Hungry & What You Need To Know!

Being Hungry Sucks.

It feels like there are a hundred little gremlins eating away at your stomach. Then the brain starts to panic. What happens after that, though?It feels like the pain in your stomach is going to get worse until it explodes. Guess what, that doesn't happen!

Did you know that going extended periods of time without eating is actually quite normal... and won't kill you? Let's look at 5 reasons why you are hungry and what to do about. Then we can examine if being hungry is okay... and right for you.

5 Reasons Why You Feel Hungry: The Science

1) Ghrelin aka "the hunger hormone"

Ghrelin is produced when your body is accustomed to eating. If you eat at 7:00am every day, your body will start to produce ghrelin around 6-6:30am to give you warning signals to start looking for food.

You'd think that if you don't eat that ghrelin would increase when you miss that meal... it doesn't. The hunger actually subsides.

2) There were no nutrients in your previous meal

This is called the "white rice paradox". Have you ever eaten white rice and been hungry an hour later. There's no way that you actually digested all that. So why did you become hungry again?

Your body is looking for things like vitamins, minerals, fiber, macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates), etc. When breaking down food, your body may realize that there were no nutrients to be had and the only way to get more is to eat more food. So, signaling the brain that you are hungry even though you still have more food to digest is a common response. So, eat a nutrient dense meal to help limit that feeling of hunger soon after eating.

If it comes out of a package... or you can't identify what the origin of the food that you are eating, chances are that that food is heavily processed or refined.

3) You didn't eat enough fat

The war on fat is coming to an end... and we know that among fat's many health benefits, satiation is one big perk. Fat fills you up. Be careful. Fat is pretty caloric though. Fats like raw nuts and seeds, avocado, coconut and grass-fed butter are extremely healthy, but these fats are meant to be an accessory to your diet NOT it's main composition. For each gram of fat is 9 calories... versus each gram of protein or carbs which are 4 calories.

4) You're dehydrated

Just listen to your body they say. You'll be fine they say. Well, for many people, our body is so out of whack that we don't know what it's trying to say. A common response to a lack of fluids is a sensation of hunger. A good rule of thumb is that you should drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day.

Example - a 200lb individual should be drinking at least 100 ounces of water a day.

Curious about how much you should be eating or drinking to lose or sustain your current weight and build more lean muscle mass? Let talk.

5) You're not really hungry... you are emotionally eating.

Now things are getting real up in here.

When we eat foods (especially sugar) we trigger the release of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitters. These are the same chemical responses that drugs like cocaine produce... hence the statement Time article that makes claims that sugar is as bad as drugs.

To be very clear: Sugar is not the most healthy choice, but cocaine is much, much worse. Sugar definitely causes some serious negative consequences and repercussions, but I've never seen anyone lose their house over their sugar addiction. Just trying to put things in perspective!

Now where were we. So yes... it's natural to feel good when eating. Eating is wonderful.

When it comes to craving unhealthy foods like pizza or sugar, the only people that crave them are people that eat them regularly or people that are just changing their diet from one that eats it regularly.

When you remove these foods, you stop craving them.

So, it sucks during the transition, but then it goes away. OR... everyone would eat these every day. Honestly, I have some will power, but not if I was thinking of pizza every day. I don't crave it because I generally don't eat it. Maybe 1x a year.

What to do when you're hungry

1. Eat nutrient dense foods with fiber, protein and fat.

2. Stay hydrated. Carry filtered water with you, and DRINK IT.

3. Drink some hot water with lemon and/or apple cider vinegar to sooth your stomach.

Know this... being a little hungry won't kill you. Low calorie diets DO NOT work in the long run, but cutting calories a little has been shown in numerous studies to help decrease body fat.

Ultimately, make sure you eat enough so you are not ravenous and so you don't binge later in the day. And eat real, a whole food based diet. In the next article, The Hunger Games Part 2 ( join our newsletter, it's stuffed with tips & trick to inspire you ) we'll discuss intermittent fasting. Is it good? Who should do it?

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