Why do you feel the sensations of hunger—that starts with a desire to eat and, if not fulfilled, can lead to the growling of your stomach, the shakiness, the gnawing feeling that you must get some food immediately? Several theories seek to explain the hunger signals, but you’d be surprised to learn that the most common ones are illogical. Only one makes sense, biologically speaking.
Here’s one theory that is clearly incorrect. The body is programmed to store a certain amount of fat to draw from for energy. This theory believes that hunger signals are the body’s way of telling you there’s no more fat available. But if this were true, wouldn’t people who gain weight, which is stored as fat, cease to be hungry for days, weeks, or even months?
Another theory says that hunger signals occur when there’s not enough glucose in the bloodstream—since glucose is used to fuel our cells. But if low blood sugar causes hunger, then why do people with diabetes get hungry even when their blood sugar levels are far higher than usual? Even people without diabetes feel hunger when their blood sugar levels are kept artificially high with a glucose drip into their veins.
I suggest that the real cause of hunger relates to our brain being a nutritional regulatory system. The brain is so sophisticated that it literally keeps track of our nutritional needs, right down to the cellular level.
Think about it, as this is not far-fetched. The brain knows which cells in your left ring finger got pricked when you accidentally touched a thorn on a rose bush. When you play ping-pong, the brain knows to tell specific muscles in your right hand to coordinate with your eye. Likewise, the brain is the command center of your nutrition. It has an enormous capacity to track the level of nutrients in every cell of your body.
All day long, your cells are consuming nutrients—proteins, fats, glucose, minerals, and vitamins—to power their activities. I suggest that hunger sensations are generated when the brain detects a critical level of depletion, not just of glucose, but of key nutrients essential for the normal functioning of your body’s cells. This is no different than when the brain detects a deficiency of water in your cells and body fluids, and it then generates the sensation of thirst.
Your Brain Determines Your Selection of Foods
Your brain has learned which foods will provide you with enough of the missing nutrients your cells need. Over time, the brain accepts that any of several food choices will satisfy most of your nutrient needs and will seek to correct any unmet needs in subsequent meals if necessary. This is why you often crave a certain food after several days of eating other foods that lack those missing nutrients.
This regulatory system for nutrient intake applies to humans of all ages—infants, toddlers, children, teens, and adults.
The author of the award-winning book, Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure, and Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Dr. John Poothullil, advocates for patients struggling with the effects of adverse lifestyle conditions.
Dr. John’s books, available on Amazon, have educated and inspired readers to take charge of their health. You can take many steps to make changes in your health, but Dr. John also empowers us to demand certain changes in our healthcare system. His latest book, Beat Unwanted Weight Gain, reveals the seven most essential strategies for shedding pounds—and keeping them off for good.
Follow or contact Dr. John at drjohnonhealth.com.
As a best-selling author and Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Dr. John Poothullil, advocates for patients struggling with the effects of adverse lifestyle conditions.
Dr. John’s books, available on Amazon, have educated and inspired readers to take charge of their health. There are many steps you can take to make changes in your health, but Dr. John also empowers us that we must demand certain changes in our healthcare system as well. This article is an excerpt taken from “Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure”, now available in a second edition.
Follow or contact Dr. John at drjohnonhealth.com.
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