Food intake is a key part of our daily lives. In recent years, people have become more aware of the issue of nutrition and are trying to be informed and eat better compared to the past. Nutrition, diet and calories are terms we hear almost every day, but we are not sure if what we know is right.
Two words that are often confused are hunger and appetite. In most cases, they are considered identical, ignoring the former referring to a biological need and the latter to a mental need.
Clarification of terms
Hunger translates as a biological need of the body and is usually repeated every three hours from the last time we ate. There are, of course, cases where the feeling of hunger is wrong since it is related to specific emotional components.
Appetite comes as a result of these and is directly related to the mental mood and the satisfaction of an instinct. More specifically, it can come even after consuming your food as a result of emotional charge such as anxiety, euphoria or anger.
Weight gain is a result of the appetite we have and not the real hunger. To deal with this feeling when the appetite knocks on the door it is good to count to twenty to forget. If we succeed it means that it was not hunger but an insatiable desire.
How the appetite is formed
The factors that shape our appetite are found in both our physical need for food and our mental. The size of the meal, the hours that have passed since the last meal but also the smell, appearance and taste of the food play an important role. Having people around us who eat is also a reason for food intake and usually subconsciously urges the person to eat even 60% more than other times.
An important reason that activates the instinct of eating is stress. Due to this, the level of obesity has also increased. High levels of stress lead to high rates of obesity, respectively. Stress causes emotional disturbances and mood swings and as an automatic reaction the person seeks food as a way of relaxation. However, one of the effects of stress can be to increase the duration of the appetite.
This is none other than insomnia. Lack of sleep increases ghrelin, the hormone responsible for appetite, while at the same time decreases leptin, the hormone responsible for the feeling of satiety. To balance the appetite the ideal amount of sleep is from six to nine hours.
How to control our appetite
Changing the way of thinking is one of the first steps in this direction. Thought is what guides the emotion, so when we turn our minds to the positive side of things we help our body to reduce the desire for food. Of course, even if this is difficult to do, we can replace high-calorie foods with other healthier snacks.
In fact, small meals are the best intermediate solution. Snacks that are low-processing, rich in protein and fiber are full immediately and for longer hours. In addition, it is recommended to consume a sufficient amount of water to keep the body hydrated.
The role of exercise
Exercise is a great ally in our quiver, as long as we know how to take advantage of it. During exercise, anorexic hormones increase and saturate the appetite. Body weight is regulated and the body no longer needs to consume high levels of food.
The hormones produced by exercise also have the ability to regulate the hormones that cause negative emotions. Serotonin is one of the hormones that increases during exercise. It is directly related to the development of positive emotions which in turn reduce the need for food. Thus, we get two helpers at the same time to reduce the appetite.
We must be careful, however, because there is a possibility when the exercise time is excessive to create such an energy deficit that will bring the opposite results. It will cause a negative energy balance which in turn will cause a great desire for food to fill the gaps created.
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