Menopause brings a host of challenges for some, not all, but some ladies including HUNGER and CRAVINGS... and there is a difference between the two. Hunger is felt in the gut as an emptiness or gnawing sensation. Cravings come from the brain and are a little harder to get a handle on. When you eat a meal and say I am full but can easily pick your fork back up if chocolate cake is on the table, this is in the realm of cravings. If you are subject to boredom eating this is cravings. If you need the taste of a particular thing (salty, fatty, etc) then this is a craving. Cravings are far more behavioral in nature compared to hunger. Because the two often come together, they are sometimes confused as being the same. Cravings are far more associated with stress and nutritional status while hunger is more associated with whether the body perceives food in the lumen of the gut. It is difficult to stop cravings by choosing to eat other things (in other words, there are rare substitutes for a craving), while hunger can easily be managed by drinking lots of water, eating protein & fiber etc. When you get cravings, think stress or some type of nutritional need. A nice hot raw Cocoa drink (without sugar) is one of the best things to manage cravings. On the other hand, when you think hunger think to eat more protein & fiber to help. Also protein is interesting because it helps with hunger and also the amino acids feed brain chemistry making protein a great way to balance both hunger and cravings
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:35:36 +0000
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