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I know I’m not alone in having gotten obese through disordered eating behavior. IOW, feeding was by and large disjointed from appetite signalling. Obesity is, for a significant chunk of the population, an eating disorder. There is no physiological basis for not being able to have 2 cookies without devouring the entire box ten minutes later. I also believe that in the modern world, although it may not seem so, even the naturally thin will have to consciously “watch what they eat” from time to time. For example I’ve read that the Japanese indoctrinate the strategy of eating until 80%… Read more »
A review by MR. Freedman et al. (Popular Diets: A Scientific Review, 2001) goes into detail discussing various physiological and psychological factors, and how they influence hunger and appetite.
“Dietary compliance is likely a function of psychological issues…..rather than macronutrient composition, per se.”
“Ogden notes that successful weight loss and maintenance may be predicted by an individuals’ belief system (e.g., that obesity is perceived as a problem that can be modified and if modification bring changes in the short-term that are valued by the individual concerned)”
jhale
I think the psychology of appetite is definitely a real biggie. The way I’ve begun to be able to “control” my appetite in a sense is certainly very psychological. When I began to write down my food intake along with calorie and macronutrient intake so that I “know” I’m consuming what my body needs to acheive my body composition and fitness related goals hunger occurs with much less frequency and intensity. I can simply tell myself that there is no need to be hungry and it helps. This as opposed to the past where I consumed ample amounts of every… Read more »
From that review paper, it makes it sound all-the-more ridiculous when people try and blame a single culprit. I struggle with figuring out the physiological/psychological continuum when it comes to appetite regulation. I think that while we are governed largely by hormonal/neurotransmitter influence – many people today just can’t discern between true “hunger” and “appetite”. In other words people tend to feed an “appetite” rather than satisfy a physiological “hunger”.
I also think there’s even more to the psychological component than differentiating hunger and appetite. There are studies showing things such as simply changing plate size, or social factors such as how much people are eating around you, will influence how much you eat. And that’s not to mention the research showing how psychological stress can affect appetite, with increases in appetite in some individuals but decreases in others.
Not to mention the fact that a good portion of our eating behaviour is pure habit, and bears no relation to appetite or hunger whatsoever. Just as a thought experiment, I wonder how long it would take an average person to significantly alter their eating patterns if someone surreptitiously managed to remove their appetite and hunger impulses. I don’t doubt that total food intake values would decrease, but I strongly suspect most people would keep sitting down for breakfast, lunch and dinner all the same ! Or even better, suppose (again, a thought experiment) 100 average people not only had… Read more »