Follow your own hunger cues to tailor diet

Follow your own hunger cues to tailor diet

Dr. Elizabeth SmootsHerald Columnist


You know the signs: Growling or rumbling in your stomach. Weakness or loss of energy. Slight headache or trouble concentrating. Irritability or crankiness.
Hunger symptoms like these will let you know when your body needs to be nourished - if you pay attention to them. They'll also let you know, based on when they go away, roughly when you've had enough to eat.
But not enough of us pay attention to these cues, diet experts say. As a result, the U.S. obesity epidemic continues to spiral out of control - two-thirds of us are now overweight. Since excess weight endangers the health of so many Americans, what can we do to get back in shape?
I recently attended a live Web cast sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians that proposed a different solution. The speaker, Dr. Michelle May, suggested that we let hunger tell us when and how much to eat. May is an adviser for the group's Americans in Motion fitness initiative and author of "Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work." Here's a summary of how to make healthier food and activity choices.
Instinctive eating
We're all born with the ability to manage our weight naturally without dieting, weighing or measuring, May said. Babies and children are the classic examples of instinctive eaters. And perhaps you know an adult who doesn't struggle with food and weight issues.
In that instinctive eater, the desire to eat is triggered by hunger, which signals when the body needs more fuel. This kind of eater will choose her food and eat until she's satisfied, then stop - even if there's food left on the plate. She then goes out and burns calories working, playing, exercising and living her daily life. Once the instinctive eater has used up her calories, she gets hungry again. She repeats the cycle several times a day, meeting her energy needs while maintaining a healthy body weight since she's eating based on hunger.
Overeating cycle
Many people who struggle with weight go through a different cycle. In this scenario, eating may be triggered by an external cue, such as time of day, food aromas or seeing other people eat. Sometimes, an emotional cue such as stress, boredom, loneliness, anger or sadness may trigger eating. In either case, the person is more likely to choose less-nutritious convenience or comfort foods than if she were eating based on hunger. She is also more likely to eat quickly, secretly or automatically - not really noticing what goes in her mouth.
Since hunger didn't tell her to start eating, what will tell her when to stop? Perhaps some external cue like an empty bag, or the physical discomfort of a very full stomach, will prompt her to quit. She may also feel lethargic and uninterested in exercise after overeating. So her body will store the excess calories as fat.
Eating without dieting
Diets are not working for most people, May said, because diets don't address why people are overeating in the first place. To make a real difference in long-term weight control, physical activity, nutrition and emotional well-being all have to be addressed.
"Weight management is about moving closer to instinctive eating again where you're in charge of your decisions," May says. How to get started? "Listen to your hunger signals so you can determine when to eat and how much food is right for you."
Contact Dr. Elizabeth Smoots, a board-certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, at doctor@ practicalprevention.com. Her columns are not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Before adhering to any recommendations in this column consult your health care provider.
© 2007 Elizabeth S. Smoots.