Why Are You Hungry?

Most people are familiar with the regular cycle that occurs each day mouth to anus.  It's a type of hunger.  When people wake up in the morning, they instinctively want something liquid or solid to stimulate the flow of saliva in the mouth, gastric secretions in the stomach, absorption in the small intestine, and excretion from the large intestine.  Everything has to happen just right between mind and gastrointestinal system or it just might ruin their day.  An everyday problem might even ruin their life.  A solid back and forth communication between body, mind, and gastrointestinal system is required for a solid outcome.

Yes, the gut sends a variety of hunger signals to your brain so that your brain will signal your musculoskeletal system to move itself to the kitchen and get something to put in your mouth.  This starts the cycle that moves everything else.  The problem is your mood alters communication.  Your mood alters not only your gut signals, but also your interpretation of the signals you receive.  Instead of putting the type of liquid or solid in your mouth that your gut needs to complete a normal cycle, your mood convinces you to put something in your mouth that you think might taste good.  Your mind cannot ignore the gut.

No, when your mind ignores the gut, good communication between the mind and body stops.  The mind wants to ease tension by activating its satiety center with something fatty, sugary, salty, or all three.  The mind convinces itselt that a blast of fat, sugar and salt is all it needs.  The gut gets ignored and the gut gets upset.  The gut gets upset and paybacks are hell. 

The mouth might dry up.  The stomach may churn out double the acid and project it up into your mouth. The stomach may hurl--more than once.  The gut might go into overdrive and shove acidic bits out the anus several times during the day.  Then again, the large intestine might hold everything solid inside until it has dried into rock-like formations, all the while blasting the rocks repeatedly with high pressure air flow.  The gut knows this is the only way to get the mind off center enough to listen.  The gut plays dirty, so it's best you listen up.

Why are you hungry?  Do you want the comfort from food you recieved as a baby?  Do you want to settle your mind with a percieved need for fat, sugar, or salt?  Are you trying feed the thoughts that affect your gut that you misinterpret as a real need for food?  Or are you hungry for a smooth cycling gut?  Are you hungry for solid communication between your brain and your gastrointestinal system?

We are designed to cycle our gastrointestinal system with signals from both the mind and the gut.  The signals must work in harmony to enjoy the synchrony.  The mind can upset the gut and the gut can upset the mind.  We can't change mother nature, so what do we do?  We listen to the signals from our mind and we listen to the signals from our gut.  Then we react based on need.

First you determine why your gut is sending the signals.  How long has it been since you've eaten?  How many calories do you need?  Is your stomach empty?  Are you thirsty or hungry?  Are you truly hungry or do you have fat stores you can use?  If your stomach is churning from being empty but you don't need the calories, all it needs is to cycle.  Water and a piece of fruit is enough.  But if you have eaten and you still feel hungry, the signals are from your mind, not your gut.  Your gut doesn't need anything, but your mind needs a distraction.  Please your mind by pleasing your gut.  Don't go to the kitchen.  Take your gut out for a walk instead.