1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vogle bam here, And this is a 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: classic brain Stuff episode. This one deals with the feeling 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: of wanting to eat. It's a strange one because it's 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: both physical and psychological and can present really differently in 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: different people. Here's how it works, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: Vogel bam here. If you're anything like me and you 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: were to keep track of some of your thoughts during 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: a given day, Gosh, I'm hungry would appear on the 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: list a few times, along with perhaps why am I 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: keeping track of my thoughts? But why do we often 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: feel hungry? Let's be clear, we're not talking about actual 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: starvation or hunger as a pervasive global and social issue, 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: which it is and is a whole other episode or seven. 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: We're talking about hunger in typically healthy people with comfortable 16 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: access to food. The hunger that are rises from the 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: physiological need for nutrients to survive. Hormones and the nervous 18 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: system regulate hunger and eating habits. But how the heck 19 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: do we recognize when we want to eat even when 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: we actually don't need food. We spoke via email with 21 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: Richard Stevenson a professor of psychology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: where he studies human eating behavior. He says that hunger 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: is by no means a universally identifiable sensation. He wrote, 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: unlike fulness, which there is no mistaking, hunger is very varied. 25 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: It is not a consistent sensation across people, and it 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: has been claimed that feeling stressed can be confused with it. 27 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: Even some of the biological functions that people associate with 28 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: hunger growling stomach, for instance, aren't entirely fool proof cues. 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: Stevenson said many people do not report stomach sensations when 30 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: asked to describe what being hungry is like. Indeed, reports 31 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: show that people cite headaches, weakness, mouth watering, and other 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: non stomach related sensations as signs of hunger. Stevenson has 33 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: also done research that indicates feelings of hunger and fullness 34 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: are influenced by a myriad of factors, including genetic and 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: psychological differences like depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Then there's 36 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: a really big factor. Our environment can easily convince us 37 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: into thinking it's time to eat, whether we're hungry or not. 38 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: Stevenson said that seeing, smelling, or even thinking about food 39 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: will trick us into believing that our stomach is crying 40 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: out for nutrients. He pointed out that this is why 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: advertisements for food products work so well, and that affects 42 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: not just appetite, but how much food we actually consume. 43 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: A two thousand nine studies show that both children and 44 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 1: adults eat more snacks after exposure to food advertising, and 45 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: review found that food ads significantly increase unhealthy food intake 46 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: in children. In fact, researchers coined the term hedonic hunger 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: to describe the drive food consumption unrelated to the need 48 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: for calories. This phenomenon might also give us a clue 49 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: to another mystery of hunger. How can we claim ourselves 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: ravenous only to find after time passes or a distraction 51 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: interrupts whatever triggered the hunger pang that hunger has passed 52 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: us by. Stevenson says this waning hunger could be related 53 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: to the idea that our appetite isn't always activated by 54 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: an actual need for calories, and that quote time is 55 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: a potent queue to eat. If you usually eat at 56 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: midday and you miss this, you will feel hungry if 57 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: you notice the time. So what's the trick to deciding 58 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: whether you're truly hungry? Is there a scientific method for 59 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: being able to push away at bowl of chips that 60 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: you don't need? Stevenson said in a word, no. Most 61 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: of our biological machinery is geared to make us eat 62 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: when we see food or things that remind us of food, 63 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: which was terrific for our ancient ancestors when humans had 64 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: to spend a lot of time searching for energy sources. 65 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: But it might leave us at a disadvantage when surrounded 66 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: by a huge spread of snacks right after a filling meal. 67 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why we feel 68 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: hungry even when we're not on how stuff works dot com, 69 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: written by Kate Kirshner. Brain Stuff is production of by 70 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, 71 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Clay. Or more podcasts my 72 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 73 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.