Imagine going out to dinner with a friend and the breadbasket arriving at the table in all its glory. You are not very hungry, but you think “I’ll just take a small piece.” After a few minutes, you realize that you have eaten three slices before your food arrives. Where did it all go downhill?
Even if you are not physically hungry, your body signaled you to eat. This is the work of the three hormones that control hunger in your body – insulin, ghrelin, and leptin. Make sure you remember them because their balance can affect your weight and health.
How Does Insulin Affect Appetite?
Insulin is released in the pancreas and allows cells to take sugar or glucose from the bloodstream to reuse as energy. About 1/3 of the population inherits a resistance to respond properly to insulin. This causes the pancreas to secrete more insulin if you eat a meal rich in refined or simple carbohydrates, such as refined pasta or white bread.
When insulin doesn’t do its work -allow sugars to enter body cells- you may experience insulin-resistant hunger. Even if you aren’t physically hungry, you might feel an irresistible desire to eat. If you regularly consume meals high in refined carbohydrates that are not balanced in protein and healthy fats, you may constantly crave carbs. In that case, your body continues to signal you to eat more carbs.
If you are hungry, you need food because your body tells you it needs it. It sends you signals like the stomach growling, aka hunger pangs. Hunger cannot be controlled; it is instinctive. And for some people, ignoring hunger can have serious consequences. Waiting too long to eat when hunger begins can mean the risk of low blood sugar and the dizziness and fatigue that comes with it.
Appetite is our desire to eat, having a slightly different meaning from hunger where hunger refers to our body’s actual need for food and nutrients. Our feeling of appetite gets triggered as the result of a coordinated effort between your brain and stomach. Unlike hunger, appetite can be ignored and suppressed and since appetite levels are greatly influenced by your brain, this is a learned behavior and you can even learn to control and reset your appetite.
The balance between appetite and satiety is important in nutrition and weight control. Appetite, which is defined as the conscious desire for food, is controlled by the pancreas and adrenal glands, especially the digestive system and central nervous system. The desire to eat is affected by psychological as well as physical factors. One of the basic conditions of being alive is to meet the energy requirement. Humans, like many other species, meet their energy needs through food. Energy
intake is affected by appetite-increasing and -reducing factors. Appetite control is a function of the hypothalamus in the brain. Signals released from gout, pancreas, and adipose tissue are transmitted to the hypothalamus. Loss of sensitivity to hormones and metabolites in areas that act as the centers of hunger and satiety in the hypothalamus causes an imbalance in energy intake and use, and consequently, the development of weight loss, weight gain, and obesity.
What Happens After Sugar Consumption
As soon as something sweet touches the tongue, the taste buds on your tongue DM “yummy!” to your brain. Your brain’s reward mechanism starts working and releases dopamine. Meanwhile, the sugar reaches the stomach where it is diluted by the gastric juice and sent to the small intestine. Enzymes begin to break it down into two molecules, glucose and fructose.
Most sugar additives are derived from cane sugar or sugar beets; which contain equal proportions of glucose and fructose. But high-fructose corn syrup produced in the laboratory usually contains more processed fructose than glucose, and when constantly consumed these molecules hit your body hard. Glucose mixes with the blood from the small intestine walls, triggering the pancreas to release more insulin. Insulin also takes glucose from the blood and sends it to the cells to be used as energy. Since most sugary foods contain much more glucose than you need, your body will shake off your balance rapidly. Your brain’s response to this is to secrete the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. The result? Sugar crash.
Insulin also prevents the production of leptin hormone, which sends signals of satiety to your brain. This means that the higher your insulin level, the higher your rate of feeling hungry (even if you just woke up from eating). Moreover, when you experience fake hunger, your brain directs your body to store glucose as belly fat.
Other Related Health Risks
WHO recommends that simple sugar consumption be less than 5% of daily energy. This corresponds to 10% of the daily carbohydrate amount. While the sugar taken up to these rates can be tolerated, it harms the body when consumed more.
• The excess sugar taken into the body turns into triglycerides. Increased triglyceride is a cause of cardiovascular diseases.
• Although sugary foods vary according to the amount of consumption, an extra 500 calories per day leads up to 2 kg. weight gain monthly. Regular consumption causes obesity.
• In addition, sugar consumption disrupts the function of the leptin hormone, which transmits the signal of satiety to the brain. Failure to deliver the satiety signals to the brain causes more food consumption and obesity.
• After consumption of sugar, blood sugar rises suddenly and insulin secretion starts immediately afterward. Excessive consumption of sugar desensitizes insulin receptors and over time insulin resistance, eventually resulting in type 2 diabetes.
• Sugar raises and lowers blood sugar very suddenly. This can cause hypoglycemia.
• It is also known that sugar consumption weakens the immune system, causes concentration impairment and paves the way for some types of cancer, especially breast cancer.
If you’re looking to build new habits and enhance your health, then it’s time to start thinking about what you should be doing differently in your life. The good news is that there are many ways to make changes to your lifestyle that can improve your health and lead to better overall wellness. If you want to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle, download wannawell app for free.
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