Question about appetite and hunger

I have a question and when that happens, if I can't find the answer and I can squeeze it into a forum on ATS it's like having free geniuses on tap. 😹

When we consume calories it's supposed to satiate our bodies need for energy even if just for a short time, correct? The odd thing I've noticed about hunger and the way the brain interprets it will take a bit of explaining.

When your body is fiending for food, you get the psychological hungry aspect in addition to your stomach feeling empty, maybe being unsettled or hurting in a way or even slightly nausious if you wait too long. On a sidenote, I theorize that hunger pains and nausea from not having food may be partially or completely due to stomach acid build up and someone with naturally low acid or on reflux medication might not get them as bad or at all. When you take just a couple of bites of something, the feeling in your stomach can seemingly disappear after a few seconds of swallowing food, and not enough food to really make a difference on your stomach's ph level. There's also a noticable mood difference, possibly anxiety, feeling drained. Just a few bites can seem to make that go away. I thought the cognitive symptoms you experience from being hungry were from a lack of calories in your belly being metabolized and/or a lack of sugar or nutrients.

Also, why doesn't liquid work to make hunger go away, even for a short time, or make the cognitive symptoms of hunger go away? It has calories in it, it has sugar in it, sodium, if we're talking about soda for example, but any beverage with the same things in it would work, natural sugars or not. I could be feeling pronounced hunger feelings and down a bunch of soda, fruit punch and it'd do nothing for me. Can anyone explain exactly what's going on in the brain and body?

a reply to: r0xor

Good questions. I remember reading about a guy who didn't eat or drink for months on end. He would meditate.


This guy.

a reply to: highvein

I remember him! Some people over there thought he was Buddha but he said he wasn't. They claimed he'd do it for months or even most of a year but he was only semi video'd for some days like in that video if it's got anything from the documentary in it. Conveniently at night they weren't able to see him. He may have gone for that many days without but if I recall, they had to stop recording him and leave eventually for some reason, again convenient.

As he's gotten older, he made his own ashram and practice or cult from it that has been caught up in multiple accusations of sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder. There's an opposition to him that paint him like a sick cult leader. He's built way too well in those videos and presently to have ever done that for prolonged periods of time. The theory is that people can live without food if they slow their metabolism by doing absolutely nothing, that the body goes into a different mode and it's only possible through learned, high level, secret yoga practices. Maybe, but if you did it alot you'd never put on weight and your muscles would never grow or even remain strong from not being used. You certainly wouldn't have a neck that thick. His neck is as thick as my thigh. Also, food maybe but.. no water? That I refuse to even consider. I watched some of his satsangs and he sounds like he has no real Hindu or Buddhist scriptural knowledge.

a reply to: r0xor

Once a month I juice (apple/carrot juice, an occasional green juice) for 5-6 days without food and don't have hunger pains or discomfort.

Perhaps go a little more natural in your liquids approach.

A lot of Doctors think that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

If that was the case then we could just eat or drink 1 1/2 cups of processed white sugar a day and we'd be fine.

All calories are NOT created equal.

And don't get me started on the glycemic index...

originally posted by: r0xor
a reply to: highvein

I remember him! Some people over there thought he was Buddha but he said he wasn't. They claimed he'd do it for months or even most of a year but he was only semi video'd for some days like in that video if it's got anything from the documentary in it. Conveniently at night they weren't able to see him. He may have gone for that many days without but if I recall, they had to stop recording him and leave eventually for some reason, again convenient.

As he's gotten older, he made his own ashram and practice or cult from it that has been caught up in multiple accusations of sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder. There's an opposition to him that paint him like a sick cult leader. He's built way too well in those videos and presently to have ever done that for prolonged periods of time. The theory is that people can live without food if they slow their metabolism by doing absolutely nothing, that the body goes into a different mode and it's only possible through learned, high level, secret yoga practices. Maybe, but if you did it alot you'd never put on weight and your muscles would never grow or even remain strong from not being used. You certainly wouldn't have a neck that thick. His neck is as thick as my thigh. Also, food maybe but.. no water? That I refuse to even consider.

They recorded him day and night for like 7 or 10 days, with no eating or drinking. Eventually he got up and moved further into the forest. The last I heard he got into trouble for something.

a reply to: Lumenari

Once a month I juice (apple/carrot juice, an occasional green juice) for 5-6 days without food and don't have hunger pains or discomfort.

I have wondered about that. How do you feel afterword?

originally posted by: highvein
They recorded him day and night for like 7 or 10 days, with no eating or drinking. Eventually he got up and moved further into the forest. The last I heard he got into trouble for something.

Yeah, to go get some food and water because that's as long as he could go.

Something about kidnapping and raping girls that travelled to visit his ashram or become a disciple and girls disappearing.

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: r0xor

.....

All calories are NOT created equal.

And don't get me started on the glycemic index...



.....

Preach it ... preach it. I am interested on your take for that index.

And don't forget about this guy:

Scientists Baffled by Prahlad Jani, Man Who Doesn't Eat or Drink

Prahlad Jani said that he has lived for more than 70 years by absorbing water through a hole in his palate. He is regarded as a holy man by some and a fraud by many.

Jani spent more than two weeks in April and May under the observation of doctors at Sterling Hospital in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

"We studied him for 15 days with him taking no water or food," Dr. Sudhir Shah told ABC News.

They claimed to be visited by 'other beings' one night who told him that they didn't need to consume food to live. From that moment on, he didn't.

originally posted by: highvein
a reply to: Lumenari

Once a month I juice (apple/carrot juice, an occasional green juice) for 5-6 days without food and don't have hunger pains or discomfort.

I have wondered about that. How do you feel afterword?

I do it because it makes me feel amazing.

Super-sharp mentally, feel great physically and (being vain here) it makes my skin amazing.

I do work in a little mental downtime too (meditation, isolation) but for the most part it's been really good to me.

A caveat... I have a Pure juicer with a press so I can get around the fiber issues and juice 5 pounds of carrots and a pound of apples a day.

But there are other ways around the fiber issue that are not that expensive (I had a $200 juice press for a few years with an Omega juicer and did just fine.)

I'd recommend it to anyone.. when my father gets his winter gout he wanders up to my place for a week and cures himself up for the year.

a reply to: Lumenari

I had a feeling it had something to do with the source of the calories. Maybe I should go back to drinking red grapefruit juice throughout the day instead of sodas for the past couple of months. I know they're horrible for you and high fructose corn syrup is really bad but I got into the habit of cutting costs at the grocery store so that'd I'd have more for other things like gasoline.

A gallon of grapefruit juice is $3-$3.50 while a 2-liter of coca cola would be $1-$1.60 and it lasts longer. I go through alot of drinks throughout the month so it actually added up. I guess I'll take the damage to my pocket to stop the damage to my body. It'll take your hunger away and make you feel refreshed as if you ate a light meal or a snack?

The 30% juice from concentrate "ruby red" is $2.50 but that stuff is garbage.

originally posted by: ClovenSky

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: r0xor

.....

All calories are NOT created equal.

And don't get me started on the glycemic index...



.....

Preach it ... preach it. I am interested on your take for that index.

I think you should build your diet around it and talking about it would take a massive OP.

I went into my last physical (54) and they say biologically I am in my early 40's.

Been doing it for about 8 years.

I'm not a vegan at all, I just believe in the right portions of red meat to other things.

But I'm a firm believer in a monthly fast... a juice fast works for me.

It doesn't take much to make a few dietary adjustments without becoming a food cultist.

Although full disclosure... I once went 30 days on carrot juice and honey.

Shed ever ounce of fat I had and gained weight... I was running a lot too.

Type 2 can sneek in on a normally healthy person. Check your blood sugars and get a glucose tolerance test.
It may not be related to diet.

Any of these apply to you?

Increased thirst.
Increased hunger (especially after eating)
Dry mouth.
Frequent urination or urine infections.
Unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry)
Fatigue (weak, tired feeling)
Blurred vision.
Headaches.

a reply to: Lumenari

No problem. Thank you for the reply. Really quick, do you tend to stay with foods lower on the GI scale and abstain from higher GI foods?

a reply to: highvein


Ummm...while I certainly can’t attest to the truthfulness of any claims other than personal experience...I can state with conviction and truth that when I was practicing Buddhism...seriously practicing...desire fell away...

There were long periods of time where I had no appetite...no cravings...I was energized and content just being within those states of consciousness...those were the best times of my life...

While I did not seek to consciously impinge on my bodily processes...change occurred at it’s own direction and pace...

Equanimity is a natural process...where want for...is no longer expressed and fulfillment is channeled energetically rather than through physical acts involving consumption and desire...

If one releases clinging...or holding on tight to perception and preconception...knowledge and structure...to knowing and thinking one knows...then sustainment of physicality simply holds no appeal...

Autonomous reflexes are controlled subconsciously...however...discerning their mechanisms...fine tuning them or otherwise controlling them consciously is part of knowing the self...as it relates to physical nature and other superior aspects of self and nature...

Defining such when related to other individuals or groups is never adequate...descriptiveness through verbalization or communication is extremely limited...and subject to the listeners or readers preconceptions and prejudices...

Therefore...I would never ask that you hold belief in any concept or description of experience that Is pertinate to whatever paths I’ve chosen to discern or travel...rather...I would merely ask one to set aside whatever one thinks they understand or know...abstain from prejudice and preconception and maintain a truly open mind...

Become only observer...and you can attain the mantle of experiencer...


I hope that helps your questing...









YouSir

a reply to: YouSir

Holy S#. A true writer indeed.

originally posted by: ClovenSky
a reply to: Lumenari

No problem. Thank you for the reply. Really quick, do you tend to stay with foods lower on the GI scale and abstain from higher GI foods?

Well, you just balance them.

I don't really play around with GL (glycemic load) because at the end of the day I've found that if you watch your GI index, the GL takes care of itself.

To me, the lower the better.

A higher GI just results in a higher glucose response, which (to me and my puny research) results in more stress to your immune system.

The only issue to me on the people pushing a GI index is that they consider any fat from red meat to be bad.

It isn't.

This makes my 4th OP I need to write that I don't have time for but want to do.

I guess I need to get on it my next time off.

a reply to: Lumenari

That kind of meshes with my experiences as well. Once I started paying close attention towards carbs & sugars, everything started to just 'work'. I haven't really been sick in over 4 years now outside of a sore throat last year. The only disappointing thing is my earned sick time has capped and I lose it every pay period now. I need to develop some dishonesty so I can have the ability to call in sick when i'm not.

I look forward to your threads.

a reply to: YouSir

AAnnddd.. then there is the bigger part.

Excellent post.

I have never practiced Buddhism, but Native Americans knew of ways to rise above the body as well.

I suspect that the mechanics of it are the same.

At the end of the day, it is a simple choice of who owns your body.

Do you.. or does your body?

To me, meditation and the requisite isolation are key to finding that sweet spot.

Tuning out that pesky other brain we have that runs our guts seems to be the key of it.

So fasting to me has been important.

Again, excellent post.

originally posted by: ClovenSky
a reply to: YouSir

Holy S#. A true writer indeed.

Ummm...utter twaddle...I certainly didn’t realize there’s some...standard...to maintain...

Although...in my defense...I did ask to be disqualified...


I hope my reputation as a Master Baiter...doesn’t suffer overmuch...





YouSir