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what is hunger Hunger is a biological
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sign for food which is a basic human
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requirement hunger cues are the body's
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way of regulating food intake to ensure
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that we can get what it needs
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my name is Elle and I'm a registered
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dietitian specializing in disordered
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eating and in Sports Nutrition today
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we're going to explore what hunger is
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the different types of hunger and how we
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can respond to hunger cues we often hear
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things like why am I hungry I shouldn't
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be hungry but the reality is that there
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are lots of things that can increase our
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hunger or alter our appetite like
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activity illness or hormonal
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fluctuations throughout the menstrual
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cycle and sometimes we're just more
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hungry than normal and that's okay we
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don't need to justify it or search for a
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reason a lot of clients that I work with
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Express a fear of hunger and it's quite
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understandable particularly if you've
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spent a lot of your life on and off
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diets or counting calories when we use
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external factors like a meal plan or a
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tracking app to tell us how much to eat
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when to eat and what to eat we're not
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using our internal cues so it makes
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sense that we don't necessarily know how
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to respond to them something we hear
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quite often within the diet industry is
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about curbing hunger but the only way to
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actually cure hunger is to eat at when
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we try to curb or suppress hunger we are
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simply delaying it this can cause hunger
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to build up and lead to urges to overeat
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or feeling insatiable after meals also
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if we're hungry for something in
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particular curb and Cravings with
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something else can leave us feeling
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unsatisfied and still wanting that food
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we were craving in the first place with
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all of this in mind it's super important
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that we do honor our hunger and our
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Cravings but that's a lot easier said
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than done if you have been restricting
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your intake you might not be aware of
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your biological hunger cues this is
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because they can switch off when you've
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been ignoring them for a while
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reconnecting with Hunger cues can take
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time and can involve trying to rebuild
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that trust with ourselves too if you've
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been dieting or tracking your Macros for
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a long period of time you might feel
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like you don't trust yourself to eat
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without having a structure or numbers to
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keep you accountable I commonly hear
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people saying that if they don't count
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their calories or track their macros
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they would eat less nutritious food and
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would struggle to know when to stop
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eating this is usually because of a
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black and white view of food which can
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be developed when we follow strict plans
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which means that when we don't track or
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stick to the plan we may end up going
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all out on different foods because it's
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a novelty when they're not usually
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allowed this novelty does eventually
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wear off but it can take time and can
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erode at trust within ourselves when we
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feel like we have no control around food
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starting with regular eating throughout
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the day and getting curious about your
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hunger rather than judgmental is super
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important knowing the different types of
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hunger can be helpful in learning how to
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respond to these cues hunger is more
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than just the physical Sensations that
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we feel when we haven't eaten in a
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couple of hours because hunger is not
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just physical there are four main types
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of hunger physical hunger emotional
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hunger practical hunger and taste hunger
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physical hunger describes the physical
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signals that our body experiences as a
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way to tell us that we need to eat we
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usually feel physically hungry when we
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haven't eaten in a while and the signs
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and signals can be highly individual to
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each of us symptoms of physical hunger
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might include a grumbling tummy or
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feeling physically empty maybe having a
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headache or struggling going to
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concentrate or feeling hangry or low in
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energy emotional hunger refers to when
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we're seeking food to cope with emotions
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or circumstances the symptoms of
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emotional hunger can be similar to
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physical hunger which can make it hard
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to tell them apart however emotional
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hunger does have some telltale signs
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emotional hunger tends to come on quite
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urgently and is usually a craving for a
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specific food whereas physical hunger
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tends to build gradually and is usually
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resolved by eating anything emotional
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hunger usually can't be satisfied
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because food doesn't actually fix the
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emotion we're experiencing this is why
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when we eat in response to our emotions
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we are more likely to overeat or even
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binge because when we eat in response to
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emotions or a certain situation we
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improve how we are feeling momentarily
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and it provides an escape from whatever
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we are dealing with however this is
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short-lived and when we stop eating the
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emotion that we were trying to avoid is
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still there which is why we may continue
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to eat in order to suppress these
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emotions it is the most normal thing in
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the world to find food comforting eating
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is emotional and it isn't just
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associated with negative emotions like
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stress or sadness food can be associated
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with positive emotions too like
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Nostalgia and social occasions food is
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rewarding and pleasurable and it can be
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a way of expressing love too from the
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moment we are born we associate food
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with Comfort babies associate being fed
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either by a bottle or the breast with
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being held and comforted by their
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eating in response to emotions is not
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inherently bad it only becomes a problem
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if it is our only coping mechanism so if
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you struggle with emotional eating I
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would encourage you to take a moment to
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check in on how you're feeling before
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eating this can help us to create more
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awareness around our emotions but also
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enable us to think of ways in which we
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can respond to this emotion in a more
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appropriate way for example if you
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notice you're stressed or lonely or
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bored eating may not be the most
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appropriate thing to do in order to
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relieve that feeling and so thinking of
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things that you can do when you feel
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that way will help in both relieving how
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you feel but also creating more coping
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strategies which can reduce emotional
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eating episodes the next type of hunger
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that we can experience is taste hunger
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this is where we may not be physically
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hungry but we may be craving the taste
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of something or want to eat something
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just because it looks or sounds good
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suppressing all hunger even taste hunger
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can lead to rebounding later on and so
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if you are craving something be sure to
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allow yourself to have it the more we
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restrict something or don't allow
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ourselves to have it the more likely we
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are to experience urges to overeat or
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binge on it the final type of hunger is
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practical hunger which fine is not
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exactly a feeling but more about the
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anticipation of becoming hungry if for
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example you're not feeling hungry at the
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moment but you know that you have a
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meeting all afternoon you might eat now
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in order to prevent becoming hungry
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during the meeting and then starving
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afterwards for anyone who struggles with
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regularly overeating or even binge
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eating regular eating even when you
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don't necessarily feel hungry is super
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important this is because when we're
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starving we tend to be more inclined to
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overeat and so avoiding getting to that
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point can be helpful so now you know
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what hunger is and the different types
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of hunger we can experience I'd incur
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urge you to start thinking about what
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your individual hunger cues are and
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start practicing tuning into your body
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so that you can actually respond
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appropriately if you have any questions
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please leave them in the comments below
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and for more evidence-based nutrition
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information be sure to subscribe to the
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my protein YouTube channel
