Seven types of hunger you can't control

There are many types of hunger..did you know that Hunger is defined as a strong desire to eat, which is also useful in determining the current state of mind of a person when he feels a “sudden” desire to eat. Striving for food every time does not always mean that a person is hungry, because hunger is often governed by our thoughts, emotions, and sensations.

According to the Boldsky website on health, there are seven different types of hunger, all of which are associated with different parts of the body: the mind, heart, eyes, nose, mouth, cells, and stomach. It is said that once a person is aware of all these different types of hunger, one can make a healthy and conscious choice of what to eat and when.

The Seven Hungers website lists the following:

1. Hunger the mind

Mental hunger is associated with our thoughts and often comes in the form of “shoulds or not”. Our moods and thoughts are often governed by things like “Today is a festive day, I have to eat pastries” or “I am so sad, I want to eat ice cream to improve my mood.” It also includes thoughts like “I should cut down on carbohydrates,” “I should eat more protein,” and “I need to drink more water.”

The downside to mind hunger is that thoughts change and so do food preferences. Our minds often change influenced by some nutritional advice, expert advice or some diet advice. Thus our minds become dissatisfied due to fluctuations of thoughts, resulting in the body's actual nutritional needs being exceeded.

To overcome this condition, experts advise that you should ask questions before eating, such as “Do you eat because you are hungry?” and “Do you eat because a friend who specializes in nutrition suggested you eat together?” and “Will what you eat nourish you?” and “Is food enough to satisfy my appetite?” These questions are an exercise in mindfulness because they will help to read the actual thoughts of the mind.

2. Heart Hunger

Emotional eating is often referred to as the result of heart hunger. It can be a positive or negative condition. Most of the time, a person eats in response to negative emotions believing that the food will help fill the void in their heart or help them avoid those painful feelings in the present moment.

Another example is eating when a person wants to retrieve memories of a warm emotional experience or a memory shared between him and a particular person. For example, some may often crave the food that their grandmother or mother made, just to feel happy or nostalgic for their childhood.
In the case of emotional hunger, it should be dealt with in a healthy way, rather than reaching for foods every time a person feels happy, sad or nostalgic. Engaging in physical or creative activities or finding other ways, such as connecting with others, may be the solution to avoiding this condition.

3. Eye Hunger

Eye hunger arises when we see some delicious or tempting food. In simple terms, this means that you cannot resist eating the food after looking at it. This strategy is often played by restaurants or food supermarkets to get people to eat a piece of the food they serve.

When we look at some tempting foods, our eyes first convince the mind and then command the signal to be passed on to the stomach and body, to bypass the feeling of fullness. Thus, we eat more quantities just to satisfy the hunger of our eyes.

But experts say that trying to get busy looking at beautiful paintings or decorations may reduce the effect of the temptation of beautiful food.

4. Nose hunger

The nose helps to smell, so when you suddenly smell the smell of food and feel the urge to eat this type of food, it means that you have a hunger in the nose. Smelling a favorite dish, brewed coffee, melted butter, or bread causes a person to eat, regardless of whether they are really hungry or not.

The hunger of the nose and the mouth usually overlap, because when a person suffers from a stuffy nose due to a cold or other problems, he also suffers from an inability to taste while eating.

The ideal way to deal with this problem is to pull the plate of food, before starting to eat, close to your nose and slowly smell each ingredient. And after you start eating and with every bite you swallow, keep paying attention to the smell. This method may help to eat less food because the hunger of the nose is satisfied.

5. Mouth Hunger

Oral hunger was defined as the feeling or desire to taste different types of flavors or textures of foods. An example of this situation is when a person suddenly and for no reason feels like tasting a soft drink, eating crunchy food, or just tasting a warm food or drink or dessert.
As with emotional hunger, mouth hunger is difficult to satisfy easily. Experts believe that snack and beverage companies use this strategy while preparing crunchy foods, butter or flavored meals to liquefy saliva and stimulate mouth hunger so that people eat more.

Experts advise that when a person feels hungry in the mouth or when he finds that he has a desire to chew some texture or flavor, he should think about whether the food is healthy or not, and whether he is eating food to satisfy hunger or just eating food to feel a different taste. Experts suggest that if a person feels hungry in the mouth frequently, they should consume more protein and whole grain foods as they will keep them full for longer and prevent them from craving unnecessary.

6. Cellular starvation

Cellular hunger reflects what our bodies (not our brains) require at the cellular level. Sometimes, when you don't eat a particular nutrient, your body will crave food rich in that particular nutrient.

For example, meat and fish are a good source of vitamin 12B. And when you abstain from meat products for a longer period, you crave them, and no matter how many other foods you eat, you will always remain unsatisfied and hungry. The same is true for other foods such as water, salt, sugar, citrus fruits or leafy greens.

Experts recommend in the case of cellular starvation that you should listen to your body, and try to figure out what food it craves, and why. You should carefully review your eating habits and try to understand whether your diet is rich in all the nutrients. Experts also advise drinking more water because cellular thirst is sometimes misinterpreted as cellular hunger.

7. Stomach Hunger

This type is known as biological starvation. When we feel hungry in the stomach, we feel sensations in the stomach such as the sound of growling. Experts say the stomach doesn't say when a person is hungry, it just reminds us of our regular meal schedule.

If a person is used to eating three times a day, the stomach will remind him to do so at the usual time every day. Stomach hunger is a negative thing because it causes a person to spend a lot of time eating just because it is time to eat, not because he is hungry.
Experts suggest that a person will try to overcome stomach hunger by eating slowly and in small portions only to satisfy the stomach that they have eaten something. But stomach signs should not be avoided if the person is already hungry.

General Tips

It may be difficult to resist hunger from the seven senses mentioned, but it is not impossible. Incorporating mindful eating habits into our lifestyle can take a long time, considering a busy life schedule, but with commitment and regular practice of mindfulness and focus, one will be able to control any unnecessary feelings of hunger and reap the benefits in the long run.