Constant Hunger

Franzi was a normal girl leading perfectly normal life. Suddenly she started suffering from constant craving for food. Sometimes, she would be excessively thirsty and sometimes, we would have to force herself to drink water. She started feeling very fatigued all the time. She felt her body was not able to get sufficient energy for the daily activities. She started weighing about 30 pounds more than her previous weight.

There is a similar story of Johanna. She is a 16-year-old teenager. She suffers from hunger pangs all the time. She feels so hungry all the time that she wants to eat all that is there at home. Her problem is aggravating with each passing day. No matter how much she eats, she still can't manage to feel full.

Do these stories have anything in common with your story as well? A number of people all over the world have to deal with hunger issues. There are some who suffer from lack of appetite while there are some who have to deal with constant hunger. Let's see what the causes of constant food cravings are.

Causes of Incessant Hunger Pangs

Hunger is a basic physical drive. It is important to understand that hunger in itself is healthy but if you feel hungry in spite of eating to your fill, then it is not a healthy sign. If we have to find ways of battling it, we will have to see what is it that gives rise to an insatiable appetite for food.

Low Fat Foods
There are a number of people who will tell you that cutting fat from your diet is important to lose weight. However, according to the latest research, cutting fat from the diet results in weight gain as opposed to desired weight loss. Low fat refined carbohydrates, which are consumed by most of the people these days, do not leave the person satisfied. Rather they leave the person hungry and asking for more. The glycemic index of carbohydrates without fat is very high which causes rapid spike in blood sugar levels and quick conversion of sugar into fat. This process leaves no energy for the brain or for the body. The whole process causes constant hunger and exhaustion.

Emotional Eating
A lot of people use food to tide over the bad emotional phase they are going through. Have you noticed how much you reach for junk food when you are sad or upset? This is when you should refrain from emotional eating as you do not need the food physically but you eat as a way to distract yourself emotionally.

Television
This is one of the main reasons why a person eats more. A person sits in front of the television and leads a sedentary and bored life. To add to it, there are advertisements that bombard the person with images of sugary and nutrition deficient food. It is important to break the habit of sitting in front of the television set and eating as you will not pay attention to the nutritional value of food or the portion size of what you eat.

Inactivity
We are no longer as active as the earlier generations used to be. Man has automated most things. We have escalators and elevators to take us up and down, vehicles to transport us, etc. This has made us very inactive. The earlier generations would walk to reach up or down to their destinations. The number of steps walked by the earlier generations was about 15,000 steps per day, but our generation walks less than 3000 steps each day. This causes storage of sugar added to stress that we all go through. You may choose to exercise everyday to treat the problem.

Treating Constant Hunger

Perpetual hunger and weight gain has reached the proportion of an epidemic now. Let us take a look at some measures which can help us treat this epidemic.

• The first step that you will have to undertake is to avoid the so-called 'low-fat food' or low-fat diet and make healthy fats a part of your diet. Remember, a certain amount of fat is also necessary for good skin, hair and hormonal balance. Include good fat such as eggs, olive oil, fish, avocado, yogurt, coconut, etc. in your diet and avoid deep-fried and processed food.
• If you realize that your hunger is more emotional than physical, you will have to take the measures required for the same. At the same time, if you have eaten something do not feel guilty about it. Rather, make a resolution that you will not indulge in emotional eating next time and stick by your resolution.
• Do not be a couch potato. Make it a habit to go for daily walks or play a game or go for a swim. At the same time, stop the habit of eating in front of the television. If your table faces the television, you should turn your back towards it when you eat.
• Exercises are of great help not only for weight loss but also for keeping hormones under check. Since you are not used to exercises, you can start with exercising for 15 minutes and then gradually increase the time. If you are prefer sports, you can also choose to start playing a sport.

You will have to find the cause of your constant hunger yourself. If you are not able to do so, you may want to talk to your healthcare professional about the same. There can be some allied problem which you are not able to see yourself. The doctor may conduct some tests which may help in finding the problem. Accordingly, he will be in a better position to treat the problem.