Hunger - The Final Frontier

Hunger is a primal instinct. It is amongst the first senses you feel when you are born. The satiety after feeding kicks off a lifelong cycle of longing followed by satisfaction! So basic is this need that one never stops to question it.

Obesity is a pandemic in its own right. If we hope to address the overweight problem, we must analyze hunger.

Ask a young child and he or she will tell you that hunger suggests a bodily need for food or fuel. While this is true some of the times, the more common reasons for hunger are surprisingly different.

To understand these reasons, we must have a basic knowledge of a hormone called insulin. Insulin is secreted by a gland called the pancreas (which is in the tummy). The food we eat is absorbed from the intestine and reaches the blood as a fuel (measured as blood sugar level). This is then transported into each living cell by insulin. When we eat food, the body will detect a rise in blood sugar and the pancreas will release insulin which in turn will drive the sugar into the cells and reduce the blood sugar level. The body likes to keep the blood sugar level under tight control with the help of insulin.

Now, if the insulin were to reduce the blood sugar more than necessary, then the body would normalize sugar by initiating hunger. This typically happens if insulin levels in the blood go very high which is called an insulin spike.

Different foods have a different effect on blood insulin. Certain foods like a sugary cola (simple carbohydrate) will increase blood sugar very quickly as there is no digestion. This will cause an insulin spike. The spike will reduce blood sugar more than necessary and that in turn will initiate hunger.

So hunger depends on blood insulin levels. If insulin is spiking too often, we will experience more hunger. And this hunger is not because our body needs food! What we eat will decide how hungry we will become in the next few hours. This is the more common reason for hunger.

If we eat foods that keep the insulin levels stable and avoid spikes, then we won't feel hungry for the wrong reasons. If we don't feel hungry, we wouldn't want to eat as much. In this situation, losing weight becomes easy and possible.

Losing weight is not only about calorie restriction. It is about eating the right type of food, which keeps the insulin levels stable and avoids hunger. Carbohydrates will spike insulin much more than fats or proteins. Simple carbohydrates are the worst. Sugary drinks, sugary deserts, sweets, chocolates, cakes and mithai are classic examples of simple carbohydrates.
So even if you eat a small portion of a sweet desert, not only is it calorie dense but it will ensure more hunger.

Vegetables (cooked or raw) are the best food to keep insulin stable.

This is also the reason why a heavy breakfast is not a good idea. I know this is against traditional teaching but it is time for a paradigm shift. A heavy breakfast (especially if it is carbohydrate rich) will ensure an insulin spike and you will be hungry throughout the day. With so much hunger, dieting or calorie restriction becomes difficult. It's the reason why so many people fail to lose weight.

If we want to lose weight we must first conquer hunger. We must eat the right types of food so that we are in control of hunger and not the other way around. The next time you have an urge to eat a small snack, think about how hungry it will make you!

 

Let's Look Around Us!

Let’s look around us. People are becoming ill! It's the curse of the modern times. Technology has improved and mankind has made progress. But this progress has had an adverse impact on health.
Let’s take food for example. To become successful, the business of food has to run on the sole basis of taste. That which tastes good sells. So, all technology is used to make tasty food, even if this is at the risk of making it unhealthy. Let’s look around us. Walk into a mini market and see what is up for display. Biscuits? - Extremely unhealthy snack made of sugar! Cakes? - Unhealthy! Jams? - Unhealthy! Papads and pickles? - Unhealthy! Instant noodles? - Unhealthy! Colas and ice creams? - Unhealthy! Chips? - Unhealthy! Chocolates and candies? - Unhealthy! What is common in all these food products? They taste good. So what do we do? We buy these and feed it to our children! Unbelievable but true... We take the unhealthiest of foods and give it to the people that matter most to us! Then what is the surprise when these children go on to become very ill as adults?
Let’s look around us? When attending a marriage, what is talked about the most? It's the food! The success of a marriage function is based solely on how tasty the food is? The richer the food (in oil and unhealthy ingredients) the more appreciated is the function. The motto is "more the merrier". So maximum points go to the meal that had the most starters. Fried foods get a thumbs up. Then what is the surprise when a young man gets a heart attack?
Let’s look around us? What is the most happening thing now in the restaurant business? Buffets and Buffets with unlimited starters. Some buffets have 5 varieties of starters and some have 7 or even more! And after the starters are done with you have to eat the main course which you have to walk 5 - 10 metres just to look at. And if that is not enough, there is separate counter for a variety of deserts! We feel proud of ourselves that we managed to eat so much more at a low price. Little do we realise that we have actually paid to get ourselves harmed and damaged.
Let’s look around us? Fast foods - aren't they awesome? May it be Chinese or pizzas or burgers? Think about it. Bread made of Maida, butter, fried patties, lots of cheese, mayonnaise, MSG etc. Doesn't sound too awesome to me!
Aren't we consuming too much? If not too much in quantity, too bad in quality?

So let’s see where we spend this excessively accumulated energy? Let’s look around us. It’s the beauty of modern technology. We live in apartments that have lifts. We travel in cars or bikes or public transport. We sit or stand and work. All work is done from one place.  So business is conducted on the cell phone. Bills are paid sitting at home. All banking is done without actually going to a bank. Groceries, vegetables, food stuffs and medicine are delivered home.  Exercise? Gym? Morning walk? Yoga? We don't have time for these luxuries! We are too busy earning money! We are so busy that we haven't stopped to find out how much money is enough! When we finish earning, then we will concentrate on fitness! Little do we realise that by the time we finishing earning, it's too late. By then we are spending our earnings more on doctors and less on enjoyment.

We have seen the impact of technology on food and exercise. Now let’s see its impact on other aspects of health. Let’s look around us. People are stressed. The stress of a job! Deadlines, pushy bosses, financial commitments and competition. The stress of family! Duties towards parents, harmony with one’s spouse and time for children. The stress of achievement and success! Becoming rich, becoming famous or becoming both. Stress, stress and some more stress. No wonder diseases like blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease are on the rise.

What about orthopaedic problems? Let’s look around us. Once again we have technology to thank! Sitting on a chair and working on a computer for hours together to earn a living! Or standing for hours together in a factory! Or travelling for 50-60kms every day on a bike or driving a car! Add to that a poor diet, lack of exercise and stress and I assure you that you will get plenty of orthopaedic problems.

So friends, let’s stop and look around us. What are we eating? How much are we eating? Do we need to eat as much as we are eating? Can we eat healthier? Are we spending the calories we are consuming? Are we exercising enough? Is it worth taking out the time for fitness? Why are we stressed? Do we really need to earn more and where do we need to draw the line? Is family important? If yes are we giving enough time to our families? Are we really living or just going through the motions like robots?

Let’s prevent technology from ruining our lives!