Hunger or appetite?

Hunger is defined as a ‘feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat’. Interesting, because the definition of appetite is a ‘natural desire to satisfy a bodily need, especially for food’. Hunger and appetite are two very different things. Hunger is the physical need for food whereas appetite is the desire for food.

Hunger is the physical feeling you experience when your body needs to refuel, whereas appetite is a desire to eat, usually triggered or determined by something other than true hunger, such as cravings, boredom, habits, accessibility to food, or other emotional or social factors.

Signs of healthy hunger:
Stomach growling
Empty sensation in stomach
Light headed
Fatigue
Weakness
Shakiness
Dizziness
Hypoglycemia
Low blood pressure
Sweating
Irritability
Headache

These symptoms are your body’s way of talking to you. I call it “Body Talk”.

As a Naturopathic physician, we view the system as a whole. Our symptoms are the language your body uses to tell you something isn’t right. To give your body what it needs, you have to pay attention to its language. A growling stomach – no matter how loud – is a whisper in body talk. Ignore it and your body will turn up the volume, “shouting” at you by sweating and feeling dizzy.

If a plant is dying, we look at the health of the leaves. We start by addressing the soil, treating the roots, giving it food, water and sunlight, and we change the growing environment of the plant based on the visible ‘symptoms’ we see. We don’t just cut off the leaves.

If we look at a fish tank, and the health of the fish is impacted, do we medicate the fish or clean the tank? You get my point here. This is my philosophy as a Naturopathic Doctor, and the philosophy I hope to pass on to you, the reader.

Tuning in to Healthy Hunger
If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this book, it’s the ability to tune into the physical feeling of healthy hunger. Being able to recognize true healthy hunger when it arises – and ignore the other unhealthy hungers – allows you to eat when your body needs to eat, and stop when your body wants to
stop.