APR-20 FOOD AND HEALTH
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in APRIL
12 foods that make you hungry
Did you know that certain foods act on your body and brain to make you feel hungrier?
Simply put, hunger is a physical need for food and a signal that you should eat. When you have not eaten for a while, your brain senses changes in hormones, available nutrients, and energy levels, and gives you a signal.
However, in certain cases, you may feel hungry even after having eaten. For instance, you have just finished a packet of potato chips but are still feeling the hunger pangs. That’s because some foods (like chips) may leave you wanting to eat more. Listed below are 12 foods that make you hungry.
Breakfast cereals: You may think you are eating healthy with cereal but it has one disadvantage. Cereals are made of refined grains and such simple carbohydrates get digested and absorbed quickly. As a result, your blood sugar rises and falls sharply soon after, making you feel hungry and weak. Add protein to your breakfast to feel energised longer.
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Types of hunger
There is no simple answer to the question: Why do we feel hungry? The drive to eat comes basically from the body’s need for energy. However, cues from the surroundings, and the desire for pleasure also play a role. Here are the three types of hunger:
Homeostatic hunger: We know, as a result of complex signals that go through the body and brain, that we need food for energy.
Hedonic hunger: We are driven by the pleasure or desire to eat.
Craving: It is a desire for a specific food.
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White bread or rice: White bread does not contain the fibre and nutrients that whole grain bread has and that’s why is doesn’t make you feel full. White rice can send you on the blood sugar rollercoaster described above. Go for brown rice instead.
Junk food and fast food: You may eat a bag of potato chips to stave off hunger or make a meal of a pizza. However, both these are ultraprocessed foods – which are high in sugar, salt and fat and also contain preservatives and flavouring agents. The preservatives and trans fats they contain interfere with the brain’s ability to send satiety signals.
Sweet treats: Foods like doughnuts, muffins, cake, or cookies are high in sugar and fat and hence addictive. They have zero nutritional value and the refined flour used to make them leads to a sugar spike and crash leaving you hungry.
Artificial sweeteners: If you regularly consume food or drink with artificial sweeteners, watch out! They may be low in calories but artificial sweeteners confuse satiety signals and trick your brain into thinking you have not eaten much when you actually have.
Low-fat yogurt: Since yogurt does not have to be chewed, it doesn’t satiate. In addition, low-fat versions have artificial sweeteners which too make you eat more. Also, they don’t contain fat – which makes you feel full.
Food with MSG: The flavour enhancer MSG, which is commonly used in Chinese cooking, is known to increase the appetite as it interferes with the action of leptin – a hormone that inhibits hunger.
Cheese: We have the tendency to have an opiate-like response to a protein in milk called casein. That’s why the more cheese we consume the more we crave.
Egg white: It is the yolk that is protein-rich and makes you feel full. If you leave it out you will not feel satisfied.
Fruit juices: Fruit juice is just liquid sugar without fibre. The fibre would have slowed down absorption of fructose. Your blood sugar will spike then slump making you feel very hungry.
Ketchup: It contains high fructose corn syrup which slows down the production of leptin and prevents us from feeling full.
Chewing gum:  Chewing something can work the salivary glands – the first part of the digestive process. This tricks your body into thinking a meal is coming and makes you feel hungrier.
Sources:www.webmd.com, www.bustle.com, www.eatthis.com,www.livescience.com
