17 September 2024 in Nutrition

Hunger or Appetite?

You often write to me that you have a problem with snacking and a recurring feeling of hunger, appearing shortly after finishing a meal. This makes it difficult for you to maintain optimal body weight or effectively reduce it. I always try to come up with ideas on how to replace ready-made, unhealthy salty snacks and sweets with healthier alternatives. You can find suggestions for quick, tasty recipes for snacks in the Diet & Training by Ann app (HERE), even more inspiration on my Instagram, and ready-made products with good ingredients — in the Foods by Ann store (HERE).

But apart from that, I would like to encourage you to reflect on why you reach for food. Before you reach for a snack, do you think about what makes you do so: is it physiological hunger or appetite…? Contrary to appearances, these are not the same concepts, and awareness and correct interpretation of the signals that the body sends can be the first step that will allow you to change your habits 🙂

Hunger vs Appetite

Let’s start with the most important thing, i.e. explaining the concepts that will allow you to notice the differences between hunger and appetite.

Hunger:

It is a biological need of the body, signaling a deficiency of energy and nutrients;
it grows gradually;
becomes more and more troublesome if not satisfied — irritability, feeling of weakness, or even headaches may appear;
is characterized by openness to various types of food – the most important motivation is to provide food.

Appetite:

is the need to eat a specific food, appearing regardless of the time of the last meal eaten (even if you are full);
appears suddenly, unexpectedly;
usually involves a specific product, dish;
it often appears under the influence of external stimuli – e.g. the sight of a tasty product nearby, the smell of delicious baked goods near a pastry shop.

Mechanisms Regulating Hunger and Appetite

The body has various mechanisms that regulate both hunger and appetite. Hunger is mainly controlled by the hormonal system – hormones such as ghrelin (hunger hormone) increase the feeling of hunger, while leptin (satiety hormone) tells the brain that you are full.

Appetite, on the other hand, is more related to external factors, such as your environment, emotions, or habits. For example, the sight of a delicious-looking dessert may trigger a desire to eat, even though you don’t physically need more calories.

People with a so-called emotional eating style very often eat under the influence of appetite, which appears in the face of difficult emotions: sadness, anger, frustration. In such moments, eating becomes a way to regulate emotions, and not a response to the body’s physiological needs. This can lead to uncontrolled calorie consumption, which over time will negatively affect health and well-being. Recognizing such moments is crucial to being able to break this cycle and learn to manage emotions in an optimal way.

How to Distinguish Hunger from Appetite? Practical Tips

Knowing how to distinguish between hunger and appetite is a key step towards healthy eating. Mindful eating can be helpful in learning how to properly read the signals your body sends you, which I wrote more about HERE.

To start with, you can focus on mindfulness and reflection when a “temptation” appears. Before reaching for a snack, think: do you feel your stomach is empty? Is eating it a response to emotions, such as stress or sadness? Mindful eating allows you to identify the body’s true needs and avoid eating on autopilot.

Of course, this is just the first step. Properly interpreting the signals from your body won’t always make you give up on a snack. But it will help you assess what is more important for you, hunger or appetite, and then you get to decide what to do next.

If it’s hunger, it may be worth taking a look at your diet. Is it well-balanced? Does it provide you with the right amount of energy? Is it rich in fiber and protein, which are key to feeling full? Do you have regular mealtimes?

If your problem is that your appetite appears too often, you may want to consider other strategies. Maybe you should limit the temptations in your immediate environment – don’t stock up on sweets in the kitchen, which are hard to ignore. Or maybe your diet is too restrictive, you deny yourself all your favorite products and because of that you constantly think about them. Also, analyze your general lifestyle. Do you know how to effectively manage stress and do you have your own ways of deregulating tension? Emotional eating may be the root of your problems.

I encourage you to experiment with mindful eating techniques, such as eating without distractions, eating more slowly, and consciously savoring every bite. It’s also worth giving yourself the gift of mindfulness for your body every day — by listening to what it’s telling you, you can significantly improve your relationship with food 🙂