It is 1pm. You have had a busy morning. You finally get a much-needed break and realize that your stomach is grumbling. You are hungry.
You made the grocery list. You are at the store. You pass the bakery that is emanating smells of fresh pastries. You suddenly become hungry.
You are resting on the couch after a long day. The TV is on. A commercial flashes by with bold images of a food you love. Hunger creeps in.
Hunger is an important signal. We are fueled largely by what we eat. All our daily actions, even thinking and sleeping, require energy that we consume. So, our hunger motivates us to seek that energy to live our best lives! But not all hunger is the same. Understanding the type of hunger you experience can be an important tool in managing your eating plan for optimized metabolic health.
There are 4 big groups of hunger and each of these can respond to very different actions.
The first is physiologic hunger. This is the state in which your body needs energy to power your activities. This is the tug you may experience after your longest sleep of the day or after a period of fasting. Physiologic hunger is best served by balanced intake. Eat a great meal or snack that will get you to your next eating opportunity.
The second is hedonic hunger. This is hunger linked to satisfying a stimulus for reward. Certain biochemical pathways in our nervous system turn on when we experience certain triggers- a sight, small, sound or memory. Eating under these circumstances activates these rewards circuits. This type of hunger may coincide with physiologic hunger, but it may not.
Emotional hunger is the third common type of hunger. Certain emotions you feel, including celebratory emotions, may drive an eating decision. Food can be an amazing vehicle for personal and cultural celebration. And it is possible to include some celebratory eating into a balanced eating plan that is aligned with your metabolic health goals.
The fourth type of hunger you may experience is practical or anticipatory hunger. This is hunger that anticipates a time constraint or some other circumstance. In essence, you take an eating opportunity because there may not be one later or one with suitable options for you.
So what does all this mean for your eating plan?
Identifying your type of hunger can be an important component in your eating plan since different types of hunger require different strategies.
Some tips for hunger types:
If you find yourself physiologically hungry, eat a balanced meal or snack!
If you find yourself hedonically hungry, there are multiple tools that may be helpful. Think through some mindful eating practices. Do some environmental engineering, like how/when you shop or how you organize your pantry, to minimize stimuli that lead to the hedonic impulse.
If you find yourself emotionally hungry, learn some new habits that can be an outlet for your feelings. You may also find that having a clear calendar or clear expectations around periods where you will have a cluster of celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, work parties) will help you manage how to keep your eating plan balanced.
Anticipatory hunger is almost its own strategy. You are eating due to circumstances later that might limit your ability to eat or limit your access to food choices aligned with your goals. For this setting, it is important to make balanced choices for the eating opportunity so that you are adequately fueled throughout your schedule. It is also important that if an eating opportunity arises later, that you have other strategies, like mindful eating or a balanced snack on hand, to handle those.
If you thought this was helpful, please share! Follow me on Instagram @daciarussellmd. Learn more about your metabolic health at www.apexmetabolic.com.