Why is it that it takes few seconds for our body to decide that it’s had enough water not to be thirsty, but several minutes to recognize that no more food is needed cuz it’s not hungry?
In: Biology
The biggest factor in this is confusing actual thirst and need for hydration with just having a dry mouth; you seem to quench your thirst quickly (due to having a dry mouth) because you literally hydrate your mouth relieving your symptoms, this is often confused with having an actual thirst where your body requires hydration.
Hunger is a different issue; if you’re eating due to hunger; it takes time to metabolise the food to register you no longer need nutrition, it also depends on your diet, individual metabolism and nutrient requirement, it can depend on your mental state too, if you’re comfort eating you’re going to eat far more than you would if you’re eating for purely nutrition
The feeling of hunger that you’re familiar with isn’t really ‘hunger’ in the sense that your body needs more food. It’s more like a timer that goes off that reminds you that you normally eat around that time. It’s more similar to how a smoker might take a smoke break at the same time every day, and then their body kinda reminds them to take one if they forget.
The vast majority of first world residents have never felt true hunger, where you’re at risk of dying of starvation. That’s the actual feeling when your body needs more food. And when you are starving, it does still take a few minutes for your body to register that you already ate. This is due to many issues, but the main one is that water makes its way through your digestive system and into your bloodstream much faster than (most) food.
This will blow your mind……Sometimes when you feel hungry…..it’s because you are actually thirsty
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