I had a healthy stir fry for my lunch today. Just chicken and a variety of vegetables. I figured the veggies would be filling. But 20 minutes after I’m done, I’m still feeling hungry. So I figure I’ll grab a KitKat bar, calories are calories and I’ll still be under my target. I finished half of it and felt full.
But the thing is for dinner last night, I had 2 portions of that stir fry and still went to bed feeling hungry. How does more food make me still feel hungry, but less food with a dessert make me feel fine
In: Biology
Generally, there is a delay between your stomach being filled and your ceasing to be hungry. This is why common advice to avoid overeating is to slow down when eating.
The stretching of the stomach lining (amongst others) stimulates the release of the full hormone.
However, feelings of hunger can be caused by low blood sugar or dehydration.
Additionally confusing the sensation is habituation. Refined sugars can suppress or distract us from how hungry we feel, because they release pleasure hormones.
Tiredness can also mess with hormone regulation.
In the first situation you describe, it could be that by the time you started eating the kitkat your brain was starting to register the higher full hormones.
In the second, it could be the lack of protein and fats, or thirst, or a craving (psychological rather than physiological).
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