9 myths about hunger

9 myths about hunger

We are all told that you should never feel hungry, that we should “eat little and often” but is that still the case, New research  form from the Bristol University is disagreeing with this advice and in fact says it’s good to become a bit hungry.

So let’s dispel a few of those myths

Myth 1:  Hunger is always bad for you

Mild hunger before your next meal is a healthy thing. When you never feel hunger your body may have been continuously digesting food, with no chance to stop and rest. Understand and respecting mild hunger lets your gut work the way it should, and therefore should be embraced.

Myth 2: We must keep eating to keep out hunger at bay

It’s simple just not healthy to keep eating or grazing, it actually puts a strain on the body’s systems and just adds to our fat stores. It’s only when we are hungry new research has discovered that our gut switches to cleaning it’s self and then once we have finished digesting our last meal our bodies switch into repair mode.

Myth 3: Sugary, Salty fatty foods always taste better

We often turn to these foods when we grab a snack. They have been developed to taste good and in fact have “hyper-palatable” taste, so are over exaggerated, they have lots of flavour even if we are not hungry. Our bodies aren’t design to eat like this, Try a tomato when you are not hungry, if will be more about texture not taste, eat the same tomato when you are feeling hungry and the flavour will zing.

Myth 4: I must have an afternoon snack.

No you don’t. Late in the afternoon can the time we all reach for a little something to “tide us over” and keep us going until dinner. If this is the case maybe you need to look at what you eat for lunch, add more protein, lunch for most of us can be a difficult meal that we don’t plan or give as much thought too, grabbing a quick salad or sandwich, re think this meal to make it more satisfying and that will keep you going until dinner time.

Myth 5: It is bad to go to bed hungry.

Overnight fasting is proving in the latest research to be a positively good thing for our health and well being. It involves something called TRE – time restricted eating, where you restrict the times you eat during the day, so some people find 12:12 a successful way of maintaining their weight 12 hours fasting and a 12 hour window to eat in, the key in not to consume anything with calories during that fasting period, so a glass of water, or a black tea, coffee or herbal tea are fine. This can be adjust right up to 16:8 which is what actor Hugh Jackman uses so there is a 16 hour period between his dinner and breakfast where he consumes no calories this gives the body time to heal, repair and rest.

Myth 6: Eating helps with my stress levels

Both emotional and physical hunger creates the need to eat, but they are not equal. Physical hunger is just that, a physical response where you body is telling you it needs more fuel. Emotional eating is a very different beast, the need to eat my be driven from learnt behaviour such as “chocolate will make you feel better”, using food to numb or lessen an emotional pain. It may just be boredom, eating something can be stimulating and temporarily relieve the boredom, but in both cases you are not addressing the underlying cause of the source of the pain or the boredom, and in fact, in the case of emotional eating, it can make you feel worse in the long run when the initial “high” has worn off.

Myth 7: I need big portions.

It may be that your usual routine isn’t working for you. Our bodies and brains like regular routines so try and have your meals at the same time each day. The more regular things become the easier it will be for you to fall into a comfortable pattern with your gut,  BUT that doesn’t mean you have to eat your meal at the “set” times, fit meal times around your lifestyle, if you don’t have the sort of schedule that you can sit at 12.30pm and eat lunch then don’t, if 3pm is better for you then do it, don’t feel constrained by conventions, then you will discover how much (or how little) you actually need to eat.

Myth 8: I had better eat now in case I get hungry later.

This is called “insurance policy eating” You are actually eating more than your body needs, eating before you are hungry, in case you need it later. You don’t need to panic about the possibility of feeling hungry as we have previously discussed in fact this can be a good thing When you start to get hungry don’t eat immediately allow the body to burn off some of that stored fat, when you have done that the body will switch off its hunger signals.

Myth 9: It’s easy to tell when you are full up

This isn’t always the case, you have 2 types of “full “signals, fast ones that tell you how much you have eaten and slow signals that tell us what nutrients you have eaten. With practice you can develop an awareness of the fast neuronal signals, and gauge how much you need to keep going until your next meal. Because the same volume of something like porridge will stretch the stomach to the same volume as say green beans or icecream you can work out what to eat based on how long it is until your next meal. If it’s going to be a while a full balanced meal with more fibre, protein and fats maybe needed, a complex meal. If it’s not so long until you eat again, a bowl of salad leaves may fit the bill. It’s about listening to your gut.