When Should You Eat Until?

It’s crucial to eat until satiated and not beyond for many reasons. Eating past the point of comfort forces your stomach to expand because excess food has left no room for water or gas to digest the food. The more your stomach expands, the more food it can fit meaning it takes more and more food to keep you feeling full. This can create a whole host of issues as you will need to eat more than your body needs to stay satiated. Research consistently points to food composition, behavioral patterns, hormonal state and individual genetic variations to explain hunger, satiety and weight loss.

Common Reasons We Get Hungry:

Feeling hungry is normal because your body needs food to have energy. When you feel hungry constantly, including after meals this can be caused by a variety of things:

  • Diabetes
    • When you have diabetes, glucose cannot reach your cells. Your body passes the glucose and tells you to eat more. This results in increased hunger and weight loss. Even milder aberrations, classified as insulin resistance in the absence of overt diabetes will promote a feeling of hunger. The same is often true in obesity, a known state associated with insulin resistance.
  • Low Blood Sugar
    • When the glucose in your body drops to extremely low levels it can lead to increased hunger. Other symptoms include anxiety, shaking, or sweating around the time of hunger.  Notice that these symptoms-of carbohydrate sensitivity-often precede insulin resistance, and point to hormonal imbalance.
  • Lack Of Sleep
    • If you don’t get enough rest, the hormones in your body that affect hunger can be altered. When tired you’re more likely to crave high calorie and high-fat foods.  This is due to oversecretion of cortisol, our stress hormone, and associated catabolic state.
  • Genetic susceptibility
    • Certain variants in the genes affecting our satiety may be to blame.

If you think any of these could be causing your frequent hunger, schedule an appointment with our holistic cardiologist and functional medicine doctor, and tap into a network of nutrition professionals for a personalized plan.

Treatment:

Finding a solution to your hunger issues can be as simple as a few lifestyle changes. These include:  

  • Eat real food and avoid processed alternatives
  • Include protein and healthy fats in meals and snacks
  • Eat lots of vegetables
  • Avoid excess sugar
  • Avoid artificial sweetener
  • Get enough sleep
  • Drink lots of water

If you are finding your excessive hunger is persisting, our holistic nutritionist on Long Island at ICCLI can help you.

How We Can Help You:

At ICCLI our holistic health program and weight loss program could help you improve your constant hunger. These programs are both 6-12 months and are physician-assisted. We aim to create a personalized supplement plan to increase an individual’s wellness and vitality. Daily meal selection is supported through online and in-person visits to adjust the plan based on progress.

Contact ICCLI today to create a personalized plan with our holistic nutritionist on Long Island.