True Hunger, What is Hunger?

True Hunger; What is Hunger?
A question you can get a dozen different answers for and is most often said to be an unpleasant or even painful experience. Most people in the first world have likely never really experienced true hunger, or at the least, most people do not really understand what hunger is and is not.
This week’s video delves into the topic of True Hunger and brings clarity to the common misconceptions and beliefs around hunger.

Disclaimer: This post and video are about true hunger from the perspective of those who generally eat healthful foods and are not experiencing true starvation nor severe nutritional deficiency.

In today’s society, it is a rare occasion that anyone truly gets hungry, this may be hard to believe but stick with me here. When you ask a random mix of people what Hunger is to them, or what they experience as hunger, you usually get various responses, but more than a few come up again and again. That said, just because they are repeated again and again and seen as societal truths doesn’t make them the truth…

The most common definitions of Hunger are:

1. Stomach pains and growls

2. A feeling of lethargy or being tired

3. Irritability or anxiousness

4. Headache or brain fog

5. A sudden specific craving or a perceived need to eat

6. Hangry!!

Looking above at all of the common perceptions around Hunger, the common thread is the label that it is a painful/irritating experience, one that can only be solved by eating food, this simply is not the case. It’s actually humorous IMHO as the list above more accurately describes what true hunger is not. I would like to share a different perspective, one that says, instead, that true hunger is a pleasant experience and offers up a different understanding of all the symptoms above.

Let us start there first 🙂

1. Stomach pains and growls –

The stomach is an elastic-like organ that can stretch to accommodate large meals. Most people eat in a half-hazard way, mixing many foods together that are not only hard to digest, but that can cause fermentation and often digestive issues; hence the number of digestive disorders today and the number of antacids on the market. Often, stomach growls and pains can be attributed to the stomach simply emptying its contents and/or gas formation from fermentation; other times, they can be due to overproduction of certain digestive acids and/or fermentation by-products. If one ignores symptoms for a longer period of time large issues can manifest, stomach pain need not be an issue if one utilizes food combining and eats simply.
While it is possible to be hungry at the time that the stomach empties or growls, it is in no way a reliable indicator of true hunger. Most people eat such complex foods with long digestive times, they feel “normal” with a full stomach, and often eat on a full stomach. The truth is, we are much better off eating lighter, easy-to-digest food and allowing the stomach to empty between meals, that is, if our aim is to understand hunger and grow in health.

2. A feeling of lethargy or tiredness –
We live in a stimulation-based society that often thinks feeling tired or lazy is a bad thing… The truth is, most people are starved for sleep and could really use a digestive rest. Sleep is the only way we recharge our nervous system, which, in turn, is our true source of energy. When people are tired and think they need food, really, what is needed is sleep. Food serves as functional fuel for our cells, but it’s the nerve energy, or spark, that is required to utilize that fuel. The simplest analogy is comparing the two systems to that of a car, sleep recharges the battery and gas is the fuel, no matter how much gas is in the tank we can not start the car without the battery, that is unless we Push start it / use stimulants. Considering fuel, in terms of days, we essentially have a limitless supply of tissues to burn for fuel energy without ever consuming a bite, it’s really the sleep we require to “recharge”.

3. Irritability or anxiousness + 4. Headache or brain fog +  6. Hangry!! –
Digestion can take up to 60% of our blood flow; it is a labor-intensive activity, and that is why some people literally pass out after a big Thanksgiving meal. When the contents of the stomach empty and the bulk of mechanical digestion is done, the amount of blood needed for digestion is vastly diminished. During this time, blood flow is diverted to other systems, often resulting in increased energy to clear debris and toxemia from the body. When the body clears debris, it circulates through the bloodstream for elimination. It is during this time of elimination that we experience symptoms of detoxification, which have a wide range of uncomfortable effects, including all of the above. As one cleans up their diet and detoxifies through the “surface load” of toxemia consistently for an appreciable amount of time, these symptoms diminish and disappear until there is no discomfort between meals (think of this as cleaning the dirt under the rug and under the chairs). It is poignant to note that the body will not detoxify at a rate that is dangerous to the body, potentially, unless one has a long history of potent pharmaceuticals.

5. A sudden specific craving or a perceived need to eat –

I saved this one for last as it is the only one that can be true, to an extent. Most of the time, when people have specific cravings, it is more closely attributable to the detoxification of the residues they are actually craving. Just like a cigarette smoker who wants a cigarette to curb his cravings, the reality is this is simply a coping mechanism to stave off the detoxification of the last cigarettes / or in our case, the foods eaten. Oftentimes, one will crave a very specific food from the past as the body has energy freed up to peel back the layers of the “onion,” or rather, the past debris that was stored at a time that it couldn’t handle the incoming load.
The condition that this statement can be true in is in regards to cravings attributed to a lack of a specific nutrient, most commonly today a mineral deficiency. An example of this is chocolate; if one only gets appreciable amounts of magnesium from chocolate, their body will come to associate chocolate with magnesium and crave it when low.
A helpful tip in this regard: True needs persist. If a specific food is craved intensely for days and weeks, it’s a good idea to look further into it. In such a case, I would recommend researching the nutritional contents of such a food, especially if exceptionally high or unique in a certain nutrient,  and replace it with a healthier alternative to see if it helps. In the example of Chocolate and magnesium, one could eat a lot of dark leafy greens and green juices to see if it staves off the craving.

Now, What True Hunger really is!! 

True hunger is a calm, pleasant feeling, a recognition that you can eat but with no feelings of urgency or pain attached. This feeling is often accompanied by salivation and or a clearing of the tongue at the thought of any simple whole food, especially fruit. If the body is quite clear and clean, one may also note a slight closing of the throat, almost as if two fingers were lightly pressing on the middle of the throat. True hunger is said to be the best spice/seasoning, this is because when one is truly hungry anything tastes amazing, a leaf of lettuce, an apple, or any whole food is well received and enjoyed, that is unless it’s a food one simply hates.

Understanding and applying these simple truths about true hunger, choosing to eat from such a calm, balanced state while more deeply understanding the eruptions and dense energies we are moving through during detoxification, brings in new levels of energetic and emotional awareness. Such a practice can help us know ourselves better, come into closer contact with our needs, and create a better relationship with food and thus with ourselves. Know that you are not your emotions; they are simply vibrations that are moving through us. The more we honor and accept these energies and emotions as something we created and are now clearing, the more painless such movement will be, leaving us feeling light and free.

I really hope this simple blog post has brought you into closer contact with true hunger and allows you to move through such periods of trial and temptation with more grace and ease.

All to growing in the ways we can live, love, and let go of that which does not serve us, becoming more active in our conscious creation.

If you liked this video, you may also enjoy this one on emotional and binge-eating

And this one on how many meals you should eat in a day!

I hope you enjoyed this post and find these other two posts incredibly helpful!