Can Hunger Be Your Friend?

Hunger is a message that our body needs something but not necessarily food. You can find out more about emotional hunger elsewhere on DFF but this is about the physical sensation we experience as pangs in the stomach, headaches, etc.

How long has it been since you were hungry? Really hungry? Are you sure?

For some people, the true answer may be that it has been a long, long time. The reason for this is simple. Many of us have learned to eat no matter if we are hungry and to keep eating beyond hunger. The feeling of truly needing to eat has become unfamiliar to many people.  It is not surprising then that the majority of us who are eating without hunger are overweight because we have fallen out of step with our body’s needs.

For others, the answer may be that hunger is a regular feature of your lives and a feeling you may report many times a day. If you do not eat very much or are a manual worker or athlete, this is hardly surprising – you are burning up your reserves of energy and your body is sending you signals to fill up.

However, if you are a “Hungry Horace” (oh – the sayings we get from our mothers!) and especially if you struggle with your weight, your hunger may signal something else. . . .  Did you know that you may experience hunger pangs because you are really thirsty?  And it’s hardly surprising that your body demands fluid above all else – we can survive without food

There’s a good reason why you’ll often hear advice to drink a glass of water when you’re hungry. (It’s not just to kid your body – although it can trick your body when you really are hungry.) Your body is a clever vessel. It may have sent subtle signals in the past to take on fluid, which you ignored. You get a lot of your fluid intake from food and your body may have learned that you always listen to hunger signals even if you ignore the same for thirst. So what’s a body to do? Send out the hunger pangs and get some fluid on board. These are hunger pangs you can completely avoid by keeping hydrated, and if they do appear – send them packing with a glass of water!

So you have tested the thirst theory and remain unquenched, you don’t run marathons or carry heavy loads all day for a living and yet, you are still hungry.  Why?  You may be experiencing a different type of hunger directly linked with the type of food you are eating. Foods release their energy to us at various speeds and how fast or slow this happens is referred to as the glycemic index (GI) of that food.

High GI foods act quickly to release energy, causing a sudden rise in our blood sugar levels.  Our bodies react to this explosion of sugar into the blood by releasing a ton of insulin to bring down blood sugar levels quickly.  So although those calories may not have been burned up, we are left feeling empty and craving more of the same within a short space of time. Ever had a sugar rush? Ever really, desperately wanted chocolate or something sweet? (And then wanted more – and more – soon after?) That could be the high GI effect.

Low GI foods distribute energy slowly and so tend to make us feel fuller for longer.  That’s because the blood sugar levels rise more slowly after eating low GI foods and our bodies don’t have to panic into lowering them quickly.  This often means that you feel hungry after a low GI meal when your energy is used up and your body actually needs more food.  You may also be less likely to feel that you have to “grab something quickly” and can plan to eat healthily because the hunger may be slow-dawning rather than an urgent kick in the guts.

If you are fond of delights like white bread, fizzy sugary drinks, cakes and even seemingly “innocent” fare such as corn flakes and baked potato, you probably experience regular and maybe urgent hunger pangs before you might expect your next meal time. This does not make you a greedy guts, it simply means that you are eating high GI foods and your body is trying to control your blood sugar levels. However, you are at risk of over-eating because you may consume the equivalent of at least one extra meal a day to satisfy those feelings of hunger.

At least the solution doesn’t have to be drastic; it just involves a little investigation and a slight change in eating habits. Once you have identified high GI content in your diet, try swapping it for foods with a lower GI. For example, have a boiled egg and wholemeal toast for breakfast instead of corn flakes then monitor when hunger strikes and how viciously. If you feel a difference, you know that you have been a victim of high GI. Look then to see if you can fine-tune other meals in the same way.

Hopefully these simple techniques will get you thinking about what is actually happening inside you and allow you to resume control of your hunger, rather than have hunger control you. Hunger is our friend – when we use it to listen to the real messages our bodies are sending.