What are the physical sensations you associate with hunger? For most people these sensations include stomach grumbling, headaches, light-headedness, irritability, fatigue and inability to focus. And for many people, these uncomfortable symptoms are the undoing of all of their attempts to lose weight by eating less food. Since eating removes the symptoms, these common symptoms are mistakenly believed to be hunger. People are led by these symptoms to consume more calories than they require, and this widespread overeating behavior has led to an epidemic of obesity, and a continual rise in preventable chronic diseases. Understanding the science behind overeating behaviors could be a key factor in reversing these trends.
Are these sensations truly signs of hunger? Conventional wisdom, and even medical textbooks, would suggest that they are. I disagree.
In my experience treating thousands of patients and guiding them through transitioning to a high nutrient density diet, I have observed that my patients' perceptions of hunger change. As their diet improves -- feelings of hunger become less frequent, less uncomfortable, and are mainly felt in the mouth and throat ("true hunger") rather than the head and stomach. I have now documented and published these results in the article "Changing perceptions of hunger on a high nutrient density diet" in Nutrition Journal, a peer-reviewed publication that encourages scientists and physicians to publish results that challenge current models, tenets or dogmas. This data collected on 768 participants does just that -- these results argue for a complete re-evaluation of our definition of human hunger.
The following are the five key results from my study:
1. "Hunger pains" were experienced less often and less intensely on a high nutrient density diet.
2. Discomfort between meals or upon a skipped meal was experienced less often on a high nutrient density diet.
3. Eighty percent of respondents reported that their experience of hunger had changed upon following a high nutrient density diet. The changed perception of hunger was proportional with the degree of dietary compliance.
4. Irritability and decline in mood were experienced less often on a high nutrient density diet
5. A high nutrient density diet was associated with more feelings of hunger in the mouth and throat and less in the head and stomach.
Conclusion: Enhancing the micronutrient quality of the diet leads to changes in the experience of hunger and a reduction in uncomfortable symptoms associated with hunger despite a lower caloric intake [1].
So if stomach grumbling, headaches and light-headedness a few hours after a meal disappear on a diet rich in micronutrients and are not really hunger, what are they?
The typical Western diet is characterized by high calorie processed foods: oils, sweeteners and animal products; a diet that is low in phytochemicals and other micronutrients. There is evidence that such a diet, low in phytochemicals, results in inflammation, oxidative stress and accumulation of toxic metabolites [2-4].
When digestion is complete, the body begins to mobilize and eliminate waste products, causing uncomfortable symptoms. If we allow waste metabolites to build up by eating unhealthy foods, we will feel discomfort when the body attempts to mobilize and remove these wastes. I propose that these sensations are actually symptoms of detoxification and withdrawal from an unhealthy diet, lacking in crucial micronutrients. I call this "Toxic Hunger". Scientists now know that unhealthy food has effects on the brain similar to those of addictive drugs. Natural plant foods, rich in micronutrients, do not produce withdrawal symptoms -- because inflammatory compounds and excess free radicals do not accumulate.
This is why so many diets fail. Simply restricting portions of the same disease-causing foods does not resolve the symptoms of toxic hunger. In addition to being effective for weight loss, a high nutrient diet has now been scientifically shown to change the perception of hunger, getting people in touch with "true hunger" (throat hunger).
Thousands of obese individuals who have failed one diet after another in the past have now lost dramatic amounts of weight. A high nutrient diet, if widely adopted, could bring millions of people in touch with true hunger, and stop the proliferation of obesity and preventable chronic disease.
You can read the free full-text with complete references of my study here.
References
1. Fuhrman, J., et al., Changing perceptions of hunger on a high nutrient density diet. Nutr J, 2010. 9: p. 51.
2. Egger, G. and J. Dixon, Inflammatory effects of nutritional stimuli: further support for the need for a big picture approach to tackling obesity and chronic disease. Obes Rev, 2010. 11(2): p. 137-49.
3. Devaraj, S., et al., High-fat, energy-dense, fast-food-style breakfast results in an increase in oxidative stress in metabolic syndrome. Metabolism, 2008. 57(6): p. 867-70.
4. Bhosale, P., B. Serban, and P.S. Bernstein, Retinal carotenoids can attenuate formation of A2E in the retinal pigment epithelium. Arch Biochem Biophys, 2009. 483(2): p. 175-81.
Follow Joel Fuhrman, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drfuhrman
"We must acknowledge the limitations of this study, including the fact that this was a retrospective, non-controlled study. The instrument we used has not been validated on large or diverse populations, although we did establish preliminary internal consistency and content validity. We recognize that participants were self-selected and may have been biased in their responses by exposure to the information on the website and resources to which they all subscribed."
Please.
Likewise if the basic need of hunger is met with instruction and the basic tools for gardening and farming, the long-term result will be more satisfactory than if they're met with a double burger from a sympathetic stranger.
In that situation, I just had to wait it out, knowing I'd feel better on the other end of the process, which to my relief I did. As I am overweight, I wonder if I can do this with dieting as well. I already have a very high nutrient diet, but it is 100% true that I am most likely to make bad food choices when i feel hungry in that way. Maybe I can "weight" that hunger out too.
I've seen a smaller tendency to get stomach growls now that I have switched over to a 100% plant-based diet that includes veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts/seeds, and beans. Come to think of it I remember getting a fair amount of headaches if I didn't eat in time a few years back before switching my diet and I can't recall this happening at all recently.
Dustin Rudolph PharmD
www.PursueAHealthyYou.com