Hi kpod,
Thank you for an interesting question.
Hunger pangs are also know as hunger pains.
Re: What are 'hunger pains' and why do I have them when I'm not hungry?
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/oct99/940277344.Gb.r.html
"When food is present in the stomach, peristaltic or wavelike, muscle
contractions sweep through the walls of the stomach and help to mix
food with gastric juices. However, another kind of intense muscle
contraction, called hunger contractions, occur when the stomach has
been empty for several hours. Hunger contractions are peristaltic
contractions, mainly restricted to the body of the stomach. They can
often be particularly strong, resulting in a contraction that lasts
for two to three minutes! Hunger contractions are usually most intense
in young people, who often have a higher degree of gastrointestinal
"muscle tone" than older people. In addition, these contractions are
increased by a low level of glucose in the blood, which usually occurs
when an individual has not eaten for several hours.
When individuals have hunger contractions, they frequently experience
pain in the pit of their stomachs. This pain, referred to as hunger
pangs, usually does not begin until 12 to 24 hours after the last
ingestion of food. In your question, you state that you experience
hunger pangs even when you are not hungry."
[edit]
"One reason you may have ?hunger pangs? when you do not feel hungry is
that perhaps you are hungry but you just do not feel that are. In this
instance, you might think back to when you last ate, and the amount of
food consumed at that time. Another possibility is that you are not
experiencing hunger pangs, but rather pain of a different origin.
Abdominal pain can result from a large number of things--hunger,
stress, as well as a number of physiological disturbances. One way
that physicians can narrow down these possibilities is by asking
patients about the quality of the pain (for example, diffuse versus
localized), and the specific location of pain in the abdomen."
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Health Network by Tom McGregor -Killer Cravings - Excerpt from EATING IN FREEDOM
http://www.freedom-you.com/compulsive_eating/killer%20cravings.htm
"The body?s homeostatic balance is affected by diet. Consumption of
massive amounts of sugar, salt, caffeine or fried foods drastically
affects homeostatic balance. Natural hunger becomes distorted as the
body craves for the substances necessary for balance. The body reacts
as it would to any addiction. Powerful cravings override the body?s
natural needs."
[edit]
"The brain has 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion connectors for
memory alone. Each brain cell is dependent on homeostatic balance to
function properly. High doses of sugar, salt, fat and caffeine can
cause imbalances in the brain?s normal chemistry. Eating natural foods
allows the brain's chemistry to function normally. Natural foods
assist homeostasis, supplying vitamins, minerals, soft fibers, cell
salts and enzymes to assist the body in maintaining balance. In a
balanced state, hunger is in relation to the body?s need for
nutrition."
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Dangers of Sugar
http://www.alphaomegafood.com/sugar.htm
"Nancy Appleton, M.D. and author of Lick the Sugar Habit, reveals that
"sugar can: [edit] "and it can cause hunger pains and overeating."
[edit]
Sugar is addictive like a drug, can cause mood swings like a drug
(from hyperactivity to depression), and has withdrawal symptoms like a
drug.
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Understanding Hunger
http://users.bestweb.net/~taichi/ch.html
True Hunger
"Ideally, hunger is the way we experience the body?s physiological
need for energy and essential nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat,
vitamins, minerals, etc.). Unfortunately, many people experience the
sensation of hunger for foods rich in energy even though they have
ample reserves of energy-containing fat. Some people are always
hungry. In order not to be ruled by false hunger (hunger for
unnecessary or harmful substances), it is necessary to do two things:
(1) learn to recognize the basis of your sensation of hunger and (2)
educate your body not to send the wrong messages. False Hunger False
hunger falls into nine basic categories: (1) low blood sugar; (2) an
irritation of the lining of the stomach; (3) addictions; (4) the
discomfort of the body in utilizing reserves; (5) a desire for
stimulation; (6) a genuine need for essential nutrients, expressed by
a craving for food dilute in those nutrients; (7) tiredness
experienced as a need for food; (8) thinking about, seeing, or
smelling food; and (9) habituation to regularity. Hunger for
energy-rich, low-nutrition foods when there are excess energy stores
in the body is pathological. Arresting and reversing such a condition
requires an understanding of its causes. By understanding and then
recognizing the following causes of false hunger, you can re-educate
yourself to naturally crave only what is needed and nothing else.
False Hunger
1. Low Blood Sugar. Even though numerous books have been written on
low blood sugar, most people either do not understand the concept
behind it or fail to recognize the extent to which it affects their
emotional and physical states. Because low blood sugar is such a vast
and complex subject, we will only make reference to it now. Chapter 8
includes the basics of sugar metabolism and how to re-educate it. The
level of sugar (glucose) in the blood determines to a great extent
whether or not we feel physically energetic or lethargic, mentally
clear or muddled, and hungry or satiated. The key to physical and
mental well-being and optimal weight lies in understanding all of the
factors involved in a sustained stabilization of blood sugar. Without
this understanding, successful weight loss requires heroic will power.
Hunger resulting from low blood sugar is usually characterized by an
urgent craving for sugar or starch rather than protein or fat. This
hunger usually abates after abstaining from eating or thinking about
food for about fifteen minutes or so.
2. An Irritation of the Lining of the Stomach. Many people mistake an
irritation of the stomach for true hunger. This type of false hunger
is characterized by a generalized, non-specific craving for food
whenever the stomach is empty, regardless of any true need for food. A
stomach that has been habitually subjected to abuses (such as
overeating, improper chewing, eating indigestible combinations of
foods, or drinking liquids during or after meals) becomes
uncomfortable or even painful when it is empty. This gnawing
discomfort, termed hunger pangs, results from the irritated walls of
the empty stomach coming into contact with one another. Of course,
hunger pangs are not true hunger, which is the way we experience a
physiological requirement of the cells for nutrients. True hunger is
not painful but pleasant. Because the pangs are relieved by eating,
they are experienced as a craving for food and are erroneously thought
to be hunger. Continually eating to relieve an irritation of the
stomach ultimately irritates it further. The best remedy for such an
irritation is rest of the digestive organs and observance of digestive
limitations. It should also be noted that taking vitamin E orally in
fairly large amounts is very useful in healing the stomach. A healthy
stomach should be totally comfortable when empty, and true hunger has
nothing to do with an empty stomach. Factors contributing to an
irritated stomach will be discussed in Chapter 6.
3. Addictions. Many substances are literally poisonous to the body or,
while not generally poisonous, cause allergic reactions. When these
substances are metabolized or eliminated, a false hunger for them
arises. Such a false hunger is characterized by cravings for highly
specific substances. For example, those with an allergy to wheat tend
to have a hunger for food primarily containing wheat, and that hunger
does not seem to be satisfied by eating other similarly starchy foods
such as potatoes or rice. Another example is the addiction to salt
that many people have. When excess salt is eliminated by the body, a
craving occurs, not necessarily for salt per se, but for foods high in
salt and there are many such foods. A similar craving can initially
occur when dietary salt is reduced."
[edit]
Dealing With False Hunger
"The best way to deal with inappropriate cravings is first to
experience them. Then attempt to objectively identify them. If, for
example, you realize that your sensation of hunger is from an
irritated stomach, that knowledge will be very helpful both in dealing
with that problem and in quelling your craving. First cultivate the
awareness that the hunger is false. Next, develop the tools and
resolve to deal with it over the long term. Thus armed, it will be
easier to dismiss any thought of eating the wrong food. Just think of
how good you feel when you eat properly and are at the correct weight.
Think of any health condition with which you may suffer or any excess
weight you may be constantly carrying around. Analogously, if your
house were always cluttered with unwanted junk, you would want to
remedy this condition as soon as possible. Look at the food and ask,
Do I want that to become part of me?"
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
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