Just as your car needs gasoline for fuel, your body requires food and water for efficient functioning. Your vehicle has dashboard instruments to inform you that you are running on empty. Your body, when healthy, easily recognizes the symptoms of hunger, but certain illnesses, drug interactions and mental states may mask your hunger.
Physiology of Hunger
When your body requires food, your brain sends "feed me" signals to your empty stomach. Your brain has expert communication skills, but people who frequently go on fasts or restrictive diets often override the brain's important messages. Over time, explain biology professors at Bellevue College, your hunger signals diminish. This may seem like a dieter's dream come true, but it negatively affects your overall health. Ignoring true hunger deprives your body of important fuel and nutrients.
Depression
The inability to recognize your hunger causes reduced food consumption, and dramatically reduced food consumption leads to unintentional weight loss. Depression is the most prevalent cause of appetite loss and the resulting weight loss, explains Dr.Glen E. Hastings, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, Kansas. Hastings claims that this is common among older senior citizens faced with significant life changes. These may include getting their driver's license revoked, losing a spouse, and needing to move in with younger family members. Depressed people often reduce their activity level, which in turn minimizes their appetite.
Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's patients may simple forget to eat, without noticing their lack of hunger. As their disease progresses, the part of the brain used for eating and swallowing deteriorates, thereby increasing their risk of aspirating their food. An Alzheimer's patient may not recognize the food in front of her, may forget how to manipulate a knife and fork. He may also forget to open his mouth as the food approaches it, says the Alzheimer's Society. This reduced eating may cause malnutrition, making it even harder to manage the disease.
Adrenaline
Most people can identify at least one person who burns the proverbial candle on both ends. They wake up early, go for a run, rush to work, miss lunch and stay late at the office. These over-achievers often fail to recognize their hunger, because their adrenaline constantly feeds them. Adrenaline is the hormone that induces the "flight or fight response." An adrenaline rush elevates your heart rate and dilates your breathing passages.
Cortisol
Adrenaline, often associated with exhilaration, may diminish hunger. In contrast, cortisol, a stress hormone, may stimulate cravings for sugary or high fat snacks, explains Dr. Len Kravitz, an exercise physiology professor at the University of New Mexico. This factor may explain the "freshman 15," a weight gain phenomenon typical of college students. Test anxiety may stimulate excess cortisol, which may cause a student to consume a high-sugar diet while studying for an exam.
References
- School of Medicine Wichita; Unintended Weight Loss; Glen E. Hastings MD; October 2005
- Bellevue College:Energy Balance and Body Composition
- Alzheimer's Society: Eating and Drinking
- University of New Mexico; Cortisol Connection: Tips on Managing Stress and Weight; Christine A. Maglione-Garves, Len Kravitz, Ph.D., and Suzanne Schneider, Ph.D.
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