When Hunger Isn’t Real…
We eat for all sorts of reasons: when we’re angry or sad, stressed or festive, starving or hormonal.
Most people over-eat, and usually when they weren’t actually hungry in the first place.
Eventually, distracted from the stress of daily life and worries, it becomes impossible to distinguish between hunger that is real and hunger that is fake.
There are actually several different types of hunger, because our drive to eat comes from various sources that often don’t have anything to do with physical hunger – that real, true hunger that begins as a rumbling sensation in your stomach approximately every 3-4 hours.
The sensation will intensify as a major discomfort, or even pain, the longer you ignore it. Eventually it will settle but come again in waves until you satiate it by giving your body and brain what they need to function.
Can you tell the difference between real hunger and other kinds of hunger?
Let’s take a look at six types of hunger to help you identify why you’re eating when you’re not really hungry:
EMOTIONAL HUNGER
Sad, angry, stressed, anxious, lonely, tired, bored? There are many different emotions that can overcome us, and yet instead of allowing ourselves some breathing room to feel the emotions and allow them to pass, we often try to smother them with our favourite foods.
Emotions can be like hunger: uncomfortable. So replacing the discomfort with a pleasurable and soothing sensation into our mouth and bellies often seems like the closest thing to comfort for our brains.
Depending on what you reach for, it could be a great indication of what your emotional trigger is. Ice-cream, chocolate and yoghurt for example are classic comfort foods. Crunchy chips suggest frustration or anger. Bread, pizza and pasta are great fillers for a lonely heart or an unfulfilled need.
HORMONAL HUNGER
If your hunger regulating neurotransmitters and hormones (cortisol, insulin, ghrelin, leptin) are suffering imbalance from dieting, irregular eating patterns or just plain too much sugar and processed foods, they will drive your hunger as cravings.
Cravings caused by hormonal hunger can overcome even the staunchest willpower, and can lead to intense mood swings, fatigue, and a near constant desire to eat, regardless of being “full.”
NUTRITIONAL HUNGER
Since most of today’s food is often classed as ‘food like’ substances void of nutrients, your hunger is never truly satisfied. Therefore, after a highly processed meal you’ll be hungry again a short time later because your cells have not been truly satisfied, and they will constantly be at you to give them the nutrition they deserve.
Dieting and restricting calorie intake is another reason for nutritional hunger. Regardless of what a diet plan might say, if you’re body disagrees and needs more nutrients, then the more you ignore your own inner wisdom, the more you’ll be hungry for real food.
HABITUAL HUNGER
Each one of us has habits regarding food: eating in front of the TV, eating in the car when travelling, eating when we see someone else eating, eating when we’re bored or looking for distraction.
The brain will learn when and how food was obtained as a survival method to obtain more if ever in need.
For example, if after work you always manage to drive home a certain way that just happens to pass your local McDonalds drive through, and you start stopping every afternoon for a burger (telling yourself you’re so hungry and tired you can’t wait until you get home and make something), your brain will learn that behaviour and default to it every afternoon when you’re driving home.
Learned hunger can force you to overeat based simply on bad eating habits.
BACTERIAL HUNGER
Every heard of your gut microbiome? [I wrote about them here and here to help you understand why they’re so important to our overall health and wellbeing.] Those hungry little suckers can actually take over and influence your food choices – for better or worse. If you’re living on a diet of processed foods that are devoid of nutrients but rich in fat, sugar and salt, then your microbiome is going to have a party in your digestive tract.
Anytime you’re feeling less than, your microbiome will want more of the ‘good stuff’ to satisfy it’s cravings. And the more processed food you eat, the more the bad bacteria overpopulate the good. In a nutshell, the more bad bacteria you have, the more influence they’ll have over your food choices.
VISUAL HUNGER
When we see a certain food and start thinking about, the visual stimulation creates an emotional connection driven by memory, and we start to salivate and want that food. Advertising companies use this to their advantage by using delectable food images to flash in front of you between your favourite TV shows.
If we continue to see or think about that food we begin to crave it, even though we may not be physically hungry. This visual stimulation is known as Cephalic Phase Insulin Response, where the brain is so captivated by the stimulating imagery that it literally stimulates the hormone insulin to rise in the blood stream!
Hunger is a natural reminder from the body to refuel with energy and information. Sometimes in modern life there are many distractions that prevent the true message getting through to the brain.
Some food for thought in what’s driving your own hunger.
About Viki
Viki Thondley is a Mind-Body Wellness Specialist and qualified Holistic Counsellor, Food, Stress & Lifestyle Coach, Meditation Therapist, and Eating Disorder Recovery Coach who inspires women to shift from dieting and restriction to whole-self nourishment, self-care and whole food healing. Recovered from bulimia nervosa and the many years of hormonal imbalances, food prison and self-sabotaging behaviours’, Viki is an inspiring coach, speaker and event host who also provides personalised holistic programs, workshops and retreats to instil self-love, happiness, body confidence and real food freedom. She is author of “Achieving Your Wellness: Create a Life You Love” and “Healthy Chocolate Delights: Real Food Sweet Treats”.
