Before we look at what makes you eat more food, try to first understand the 2 kinds of hunger that you can have: physical hunger and psychological hunger.
The physical hunger is one that is triggered by the energy level in your body (or blood sugar), and the food in your stomach. Lack of energy or food causes the secretion of hormones inducing hunger (such as ghrelin) that tells your brain that your body needs more food.
As for the psychological hunger, there is no physical trigger signal from the stomach. It’s just that your brain is fooled into thinking that your body needs more food when it really does not. Psychological hunger may increase psychological problems causing overeating (stomach problems, obesity, etc..).
Here is a list of 9 factors of hunger:
- Time of Day - We condition our bodies to expect the breakfasts, lunches and dinners at the same time each day. Part of the reason you’re hungry at noon is the fact that it’s the same time that you have eaten lunch over the last 100 days.
- Sight of Food – Studies using MRI have shown that the brain patterns of people viewing the pictures of foods they like and dislike are very different. The brain anticipates the entry of food into the mouth and stomach. And that is why the sight of a good dish makes your mouth water and pushes you to eat more food even though you may not really be hungry.
- Variety of Food – Even after a heavy meal, we often “save room” for dessert, because a desire for sweets has not been satisfied. Sometimes just a little fruit salad with your meal can curb a craving for sugar dessert, and to avoid overconsumption.
- Smell of Food – Smell is one of the main ways we use to make our body know that food is nearby. Once the trigger is activated, it can induce the secretion of insulin, which makes us think that we are hungry. Smell and sight are sufficient to activate the cascade of appetite and make us eat more food even though our body does not really need it.
- Alcoholic Beverages – Drinking alcohol has not been scientifically proven to stimulate appetite, but drinking too much beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages many times has the effect of making people “hungry” in the real world. Scientifically proven or not, how many times have you come home from a night out where you were drinking and raided the refrigerator because you thought you were hungry?
- Temperature - As it gets colder, people tend to eat more, so restaurants often retain a cool temperature. Your metabolism drops when it is time to eat, and eating makes you warmer. Heat is a signal of content.
- Refined Carbohydrates - When a machine was used to remove fragments rich in fiber (bran and germ) of grain, and that food is prepared with grains obtained, these foods contain refined carbohydrates. Refined foods should be avoided when you want to avoid the spare tire. White rice, white bread, sugary cereals, pasta and noodles made from white flour, etc. are all examples of refined carbohydrates. After a meal too high in refined carbohydrates, like white pasta, the body might want to eat again in a few hours. These foods cause a decrease in blood sugar and when our blood sugar falls, we will generally be much more interested in food. This makes us eat more food.
- Junk Food - Fat foods including ice cream and hamburgers send signals directly to your brain to eat more food, according to the findings of a study published in September 2009. The fat in junk food triggers messages that are sent to the cells of the body, warning them to ignore the hormones that suppress appetite (hormones that help regulate our weight). The effect can last for several days, sabotaging efforts to return to a healthy diet after eating fast food, the study said. Researchers have shown for the first time how particular foods can create a vicious cycle of overconsumption, always making you eat more food.
- Intellect - intellectual activities would push people to eat more food when they are at rest in a small study in 2008. The researchers separated 14 volunteers (all university students) in 3 groups. These groups were in sessions of 45 minutes from rest in a sitting position; reading and summarizing text; completing a series of tests of memory, attention and vigilance on computer.
After completing the sessions, participants were invited to eat as they wished. Students who had performed the tests on computer ate 253 calories more on average than students who had rested. While students who had completed a short text about themselves consumed 203 calories more on average than students who had rested.
