Basically we eat to survive. When hungry person starts taking food and eating stops then hunger is satisfied.
‘Hunger’ is an unpleasant sensation that forces a man to eat. Hunger sensations develop due to contraction of stomach. Hunger sensations which subside without eating food reappears with more force. During hunger one may feel weak, irritable and headache.
‘Appetite’ can be for a certain kind of food. Appetite may be having basically a psychological component. Appetite in most cases is a pleasant sensation. It depends more on the odour and memory of good food.
‘Satiety’ is the peak of satisfaction which builds up rapidly while hunger builds up slowly. It is an absence of desire for food.
REGULATION OF HUNGER
Hypothalamus evokes the sensation of hunger and satiety. If central portion of hypothalamus is destroyed then person may eat voraciously while destruction of lateral hypothalamus results in refusing to eat becoming anorexic.
There are sensory, metabolic and hormonal influences controlling food intake.
Sensory Influences
It is true that stomach contractions can lead to hunger but it is not only contractions which regulate food intake. Several other stimuli are also involved in regulation of food intake. Sensory stimuli coming from taste, smell and texture of food are relayed to the cortex of brain then to satiety centre in hypothalamus. These signals command to stop or to continue eating.3
Hormonal Centre
Insulin, glucagon are involved in regulation of glucose. It can be sensed by glucose receptors of hypothalamus and regulate food intake.
Metabolic Factors
When food is taken, blood sugar level increases. Rate of utilisation of glucose in tissue rises. Then receptors are stimulated. Stimulated receptors send signals to stop eating.
Then hours after eating blood glucose level falls. Satiety centre stops sending signals to feeding centre. This circle goes on in life.
Lipostatic Regulation
In this food intake is regulated by fat stored in adipose tissues. Information of fat stores is sent to nervous control centre. If stores are full signals are sent to stop eating.
Amniotic Regulation
Plasma concentration has an effect on the amount of food to be taken.
FOOD PATTERNS
We eat generally what our forefathers ate. Child has no idea about liking and disliking but he learns from parents what to eat and what not to eat.
Primitive men lived in jungles and used to collect food from wild animals and plants. They survived upon fruits, nuts, roots and other plant foods. He did hunting of wild animals and used to catch fishes from ponds.4
Later on they settled down on the banks of rivers and learned to domesticate plants and animals. They started making shelters, raised plants and animals to get food. Cows were domesticated and milk was extracted.
Then he invented fire and started cooking food. As man moved from one place to another and found new foods growing in that area.
SATISFACTION SCORE
There is a mathematical formula to calculate satisfaction score of a food. Point value is food weight divided by calories, multiplied by 4. Secondly we add the number of grams of proteins it contains. Finally add the number of grams of fibre.
Food | Protein (gm) | Fibre (gm) | Weight divided by calories × 4 | Satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Not very satisfying | ||||
Potato chips | 4 | 2 | 0.8 | 7 |
Milk chocolate 2 bar | 5.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 8 |
French fries | 3 | 3 | 1.2 | 7 |
Cheese puffs 2 | 4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 5 |
Moderate satisfying | ||||
Corn flakes 1 cup | 18 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 20 |
Fresh fruit salad | 8 | 7 | 4 | 18 |
Cheese pie | 11 | 1 | 1.6 | 14 |
Very satisfying | ||||
Chapati medium | 28 | 4 | 4.8 | 37 |
Poridge 1 bowl | 26 | 4 | 4.3 | 35 |
Oat meal with 3/4 cup + 1½ cup milk | 18 | 5 | 0.4 | 26 |
Omelet 1 egg | 21 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 26 |