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Mitra
10-05-2006, 05:07 AM
While browsing around I came across this article (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061003191537.htm).

I found this interesting:
The rats' optimal window for consumption was brief, however, as brain centers responsible for registering satiety--the feeling of being full or satisfied--switched on almost as soon as food hit their stomachs, Leng said.

One thing that I've found can be helpful in reducing the quantity of food I eat at a meal is to break it down into small courses, Italian style (not the Anglo-Italian mountain of pasta with garlic bread :rolleyes: but the little antipasto; small soup or pasta - well maybe we'll skip that one ;); moderate serving of meat; vegetable; salad; cheese; fruit). By eating the food serially instead of all on the plate at the same time, the meal takes a lot longer, and gives the satiety time to register. I don't often manage to serve meals this way, but there's something very satisfying about the lengthy process, just sitting around talking and eating, and it can be done without extra cooking if you plan carefully. Maybe I'll have to come up with some menus.

I was also struck by:
"The drive to eat is massively stimulated by the start of eating," said Gareth Leng of the University of Edinburgh, who co-led the new study with Louise Johnstone. "This shows the appetizing effect of food itself as hunger circuits are acutely switched on."

Maybe not eating at all is easier than eating just a small amount? Certainly when I tried reduced calories on alternate days, I was very hungry indeed :eek: , whereas several who have been fasting between their eating periods don't seem to have had that same overwhelming hunger that I experienced.

cmcole
10-05-2006, 05:16 AM
I know there's something about breakfast doing a kick-start on your metabolism - getting your body into the "digestion" mode, so I would say there's something to be said for your theory.

At least, I would tend to agree with it, from personal experience.

However, my body seems to reach some cut-off length of time whereby I develop headaches that just won't go away if I leave it too long between meals, and am active, as well. I'll have to experiment with that, I guess, if I want to get back into considering the IF way of eating.

I realize that rats and mice probably don't obsess about their foods like a person might, but I found that I seemed to be thinking constantly about how many more hours till I got food, and what would I eat then.

Mitra
10-05-2006, 05:25 AM
However, my body seems to reach some cut-off length of time whereby I develop headaches that just won't go away if I leave it too long between meals, and am active, as well.

I don't think that giving up eating altogether is a viable option in any case ;).

Bangs
10-05-2006, 10:38 AM
LOL!

Interesting article, though, Mitra. If our satiety center is turned off as soon as we begin eating, I wonder what is responsible for the urge to continue eating that we all have (or we wouldn't be here on the board :))waaaaay past the point of satiety.

Our bodies are so wonderfully complex, aren't they? I do know that I can NOT eat a large breakfast of any type or I'll feel sick all day. I'm better off with nothing until 10 or 11 am, or maybe just a small latte to get me going earlier. After that, like cmcole, I'll need to eat more regularly to avoid a headache, or other low blood sugar symptoms. Give up eating altogether? LOL! Not in this life ;)

Mitra
10-05-2006, 10:43 AM
Well, the test was done on rats, so we may not be exactly the same. But my experience is that it takes some time after I start eating before I feel full, so if I eat fast I'll get more food in before fulness sets in than if I eat slowly. But there are times when I wait a bit after the end of the meal, still feel hungry, go back for a bit more, still feel hungry ... After following PP for 3 1/2 years I'm getting better at recognising my body's Eat/Don't Eat signals, but I can still get it wrong on occasion :rolleyes:.

Belfrybat
10-05-2006, 10:51 AM
I agree with Janet -- if I eat slowly and mindfully, I can sometimes tell when satiety level is reached before I am overly stuffed. I think for people who are accustomed to eating a lot at a meal, and eating fast, the satiety level is almost impossible to detect.

I also find if I don't eat breakfast, then I don't get hungry until mid afternoon. If I eat breakfast then I'm "hungry" by dinnertime. I don't think this has to do with real hunger at all, but with conditioning. I sometimes feel like Pavlov's dog in this regard -- breakfast triggers my "eat response" for the day even when I'm not truly hungry. If I don't trigger it, then I'm fine for several hours.