Curb Your Hunger

There are many reasons why you may find yourself eating more than you should.  It could be hormone related.  Or you may eat more because you are stressed or anxious.  Or you may just like the taste and comfort of what you are eating.   Additionally, some foods actually make you more hungry.  If you’re eating foods with little to no nutritional value, particularly sugary foods, refined carbohydrates (like white bread and pasta) and artificial sweeteners, your blood sugar levels are likely to spike up, leaving you feeling hungry sooner.  Additionally, sugar activates the brain in a way unlike other foods, keeping it from feeling full.   Here are some tips that may help you curb your hunger.

Taste is assigned a much deeper significance in Ayurveda than most other cultures.  It is considered critically important in determining the effect that various foods, spices, and therapeutic herbs, have on our state of balance.  Ayurveda recognizes six tastes, each of which has a vital role to play in our physiology, health, and well being.   An Ayurvedic diet combines all six tastes in every meal.  If you eat homemade fresh  foods  and consume sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes in every meal, you may find yourself more present and eating less.  Examples of pungent foods are hot peppers and onions.  Bitter foods include turmeric and dandelion greens.  Pomegranate and parsley are examples of two astringent foods.

You have probably noticed that some foods make you feel full for a longer amount of time.  Dr. Susanne Holt at the University of Sydney  developed a “Satiety Index”.  It was developed by having students come in the morning and eat 240-calorie portions of a specific food.  Then they rated their feelings of hunger every 15 minutes.  Eating foods that make you feel full for a longer amount of time, will result in you eating less.  Turns out potatoes are one of the most satisfying and filling foods you can eat.  She also found that high fat foods tend to stimulate cravings for more of the same.  Protein rich foods came in second in terms of satiety.  This includes cheese, eggs, beans, meat and fish.

When you do not drink enough hydrating liquids, your body may send a message that you are hungry instead of thirsty.   In other words dehydration can cause you to believe you need to eat when you really need liquid intake.  So please be sure to drinks lots pure filtered water and herbal teas.  You can also try consuming a large amount of water, or carbonated water,  approximately 15 minutes before a meal.  This can help curb your hunger and eat less.

Much like protein, resistant starch can also help you curb your hunger.   Eating resistant starch creates a coating around the intestines that steadies blood sugar and delays food being absorbed.  Not only that, resistant starch, also known as prebiotics, feeds your healthy gut bacteria.  Some common examples of resistant starches are beans and legumes, starchy fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.  Some foods become resistant starch after they are cooked and the cooled such as potatoes and rice.  Raw Jerusalem artichokes, dandelion greens, onions, raw jicama and under ripe bananas are also resistant starches.

If your hunger and cravings are out of control, you should feel free to experiment with how often you eat.  A few more frequent meals may help you curb your hunger.  Consider consuming healthy snacks raw vegetables with a yogurt dip or hummus,  unsweetened yogurt with some fresh berries, tomatoes with mozzarella cheese,  a protein bar or shake,  low sugar smoothie, organic jerky, and olives.

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