The Intricate Processes Behind an Appetite

How appetite affects one's eating

Appetite is an instinctive normal, increased or reduced desire for food. It is a hormonal factor caused when brain cells produce either anorexigenic peptides that cause loss of appetite or orexigenic peptides which increase appetite during meals.

Loss of appetite is an abnormal hormonal imbalance whose occurrence catches with us quite often in a lifetime. It is a period of less dietary indulgence and this could lead to serious deficiency of important nutrients in the body and further cause serious health problems to an individual.

A stable appetite ensures that the body if nutritiously fed in adequacy. Loss of appetite could be as a result of various reasons such as:-

•    Psychological problems (Stress, low self esteem, instinct)

•    Illness (drugs)

•    Shock

•    Social pressures

•    Unregulated / unhealthy dieting habits

•    Cultural demands

•    Religious factors

•    Genetic factors

•    Environmental factors

Loss of appetite is known as anorexia while increased feeding is known as polyphagia/ hyperphagia.

Appetite instability makes the brain to either send negative or positive reflexes that affect our need for food and could lead to binging, anorexia nervosa, polyphagia, bulimia nervosa, over eating, and cachexia.

Gastrointestinal tract, hormones and the nervous system play a great role in the regulation of an individual’s appetite.

Hypothalamus in the brain has neurons that also play a great role in the regulation of appetite. They instigate hunger and a number of mechanisms like stimulation effect of metabolism and palatability of food to be absorbed and used by the body.

Hormones such as leptin and orexin from the digestive system aid the hypothalamus to sense external stimuli causing loss of appetite. The hypothalamus also controls the body’s biological clock of the body and in conjunction with cerebral loci’s limbic system processes help to boost appetite.

You can boost your appetite by the use of cayenne, apple cider and some white vinegar to stimulate sensations of hunger. Cayenne is able to stimulate metabolism, digestion and the functioning of the kidney resulting in the increase of urination.

Exercises and Fasting until you feel really hungry could also increase your need for food. Exercising helps in digestion while staying a little long without food gives you body room for detoxification and real room for filling up once again.

Betain hydroxide found in ginger is also a digestive aid especially in the digestion of proteins. It can be used with blackstrap molasses to bring back appetite.

Appetizers are good boosters for your appetite

These are appetite boaters or stimulants that are served before meals to stimulate the need or desire for food by stimulating hunger.

Different communities have different foods that they serve as appetizers while others even combine them in the main course to boost color and texture during meals.

The use of appetizers is mainly to improve nutrient capacity in the body for absorption and facilitation of good health since they make you to be able to eat adequate amounts of food with all meals.

They are usually made of strong flavors, are served in small quantities and provided in attractive shapes and inviting colors which trigger your senses to have the need for food.

Research has proved that the first bites get the brain working and sending hunger reflexes to increase the need for food. Orexigenic peptides which are responsible for appetite stimulation are produced in the brain cells to increase the need for food.

Examples of appetizers are light meals, snacks and some inviting starters.

Appetizers give your taste buds a kick from good tasting flavors and make your brain reeling to have you filled up with food. They are able to have you yearning for food even when you would have alternatively have felt no need for anything to eat.

Fruits have also been food to serve as great appetizers and eating of fruits on a regular basis keeps your appetite up and the need for nutritious food to keep your body healthy constant.

Fasting can affect your appetite

Fasting is a practice that is mostly religiously associated. It is a practice of self- control and restraint in a number of factors, food being one of them. This food restriction could lead to serious health problems if care is not taken to observe good dietary practices so that your body does not loose out on vital nutrients of get overloaded with less nutritious foods.

Abated appetite gets made up for by over stuffing of food immediately after calling off the fast and this most likely result into serious digestive disorders that could put your body into some serious health risks like heart diseases and diabetes.

It is always important to lead a healthy lifestyle so as to have enough reserves to be utilized by your body during periods of fasting so as not to put your health situation at risk. Eating nutritious foods provides your body with required calories and nutrients to have you energized even as you fast unlike if you go for low calories that only increase your crave for more food within a short time.

Take required quantities of nutritious foods from all the food groups: to keep your body healthy during the fasting period.

•    Carbohydrates (wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, yam,)

•    Proteins (meat, fish, poultry, milk, pulses)

•    Fruits(mangoes, oranges, avocadoes, bananas, water melon,)

•    Vegetables(broccoli, spinach, cabbages, carrots,)

Maintain a simple balanced diet to prevent you from either loosing or gaining weight.

Take complex carbohydrates – millet, oats, wheat, unpolished rice, and whole meal flour - as they tend to stay longer in the digestive system before they are completely digested to save you from early hunger pangs before your fasting hours are over.

Take refined carbohydrates –white flours and sugars - after fasting for a quick restoration of glucose in blood. Dates, potassium, fiber, and magnesium sources are recommendable and suitable for breaking the fast.

Indigestion, heart problems and weight issues can come as a result of fasting if healthy dietary practices are not observed like ingestion of too much sugary and fatty food which could also have very adverse effects on your appetite and bring about cases of heart problems, fast aging rate, deterioration of the nervous system and obesity.

Accumulation of gastric acids is common during fasting and fiber rich foods like beans, vegetables, carbohydrates and fruits should be eaten to initiate muscle activity for breaking, mixing, and churning of foods to reduce the condition of over accumulation of acids.

Drink adequate amount of fluids. About eight glasses of water a day is recommended to cleanse your digestive system and lower cases of dehydration when you are fasting.

It is greatly advised against taking of caffeinated drinks at the end of fasting as it would cause you to urinate a lot and subsequently loose a lot of mineral salts that could be saved as reserves to be used by the body on the next day of fasting.

Combine exercise and balanced diet during fasting so as to keep your body energized and capable of effectively digesting and absorbing food nutrients for the benefit of your body’s health.

Fasting during medication should be under a doctor’s consultation and supervision depending on the seriousness of your ill health condition so as not to put yourself into acute cases. Reduced or combined dosages could be administered so as not to miss out on any medication requirement during fasting.

Diet controlled diabetics can use the fasting period to successfully gain some healthy results for their bodies.

However, those on hypoglycemic agents combined with dieting should exercise great care when fasting and constant consultation with the doctor should be maintained in order to study their sugar levels and incase the need for adjustment of their doses occur.

Immediate call off to fasting should be effected if any result of blood sugar reduction in the body occurs during the days of fasting.