But today I'm going to speak about the three most common types of psychological hunger, which are emotional hunger, social hunger and cravings. Let's understand a little more about each one. The secret is not restriction / diet, but to seek to eat better. Learn about the Sophie Effect!
Chronic hunger designates a state of long-term undernourishment. The body absorbs less food than it needs. Although the media mostly report on acute hunger crises, globally, chronic hunger is by far the most widespread. It usually arises in connection with poverty.
Hunger occurs once you haven't eaten in a while and if food is eaten properly should only occur a few times throughout the day. On the other hand, our appetite is our desire to eat. This is determined by cravings, boredom, or emotions rather than actual hunger and can occur at any time of day.
But the thing is, there's a difference between true physical hunger and emotional hunger. Physical hunger is gradual and tied to the last time you ate. While emotional hunger is triggered by things such as stress, worry or fatigue.
Polyphagia, also called hyperphagia, is the medical term for a feeling of extreme, insatiable hunger. It's a symptom of certain health conditions. Eating typically doesn't make polyphagia go away, except in the case of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Basically, emotional hunger is “a feeling of a strong emotional need that is usually brought about by deprivation in childhood”. When a person grows up without love or affection as a child, that manifests itself as a strong need for emotional closeness as an adult.
This is when your stomach is empty and your brain signals that it is hungry by initiating stomach growling, thoughts about food, and feelings of irritability, tiredness and poor concentration.
You are emotionally hungry.
We tend to call this urge to eat mental hunger because the source of it seems to come from our brain. It's the non stop thoughts we have about food or an unconscious pull to get up and go to the fridge but for a big portion of us, it's not so much mental as it is emotional.
Anxiety is very particular.
Because physical hunger is tied to a need for fuel, most foods will satisfy it: a piece of fruit, a cup of yogurt, chicken and vegetables. Anxious hunger, on the other hand, creates a need for a specific food, more often than not one considered unhealthy or junk food.
Low blood sugar causes people to feel irritable, confused and fatigued. The body begins to increase production of cortisol, leaving us stressed and hangry. Skipping meals can also cause your metabolism to slow down, which can cause weight gain or make it harder to lose weight.
Hillman explains, “If you're actually hungry, you'll experience true hunger cues, such as stomach growling, low energy, shakiness, headaches and problems focusing.” It's just as important to recognize when you listen to those signals too, so you know what they feel like for the future.
Poverty. Poverty is the greatest cause of hunger around the world – in both higher-wealth and low- to middle-income countries. Most people who are hungry live in extreme poverty, defined as income of $2.15 per day or less.
Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you that you are hungry and it is time to get something to eat. It signals the brain when the stomach is empty. After the body receives food, it will begin to shut down the ghrelin hormone and the body begins to release leptin. Leptin signals the brain to stop eating.