A sense of need for food is a signal that a person should maintain energy balance with food. But sometimes hunger also arises when there is no objective need for food. This phenomenon can be explained by an improper diet or strict diets. How to control your appetite? Many people are interested in this issue. About different ways to reduce hunger is described in the article.
Are strict restrictions justified?
Almost everyone who adheres to a diet achieves good results.
The problem is that such an effect is short-lived. After severe restrictions, the body requires more nutrients. As a result, excess kilograms are returned again. It is no coincidence that many people are concerned about how to learn to control appetite. There is a wide selection of pills that reduce hunger. However, medicines do not give a lasting effect, and their uncontrolled use has a bad effect on the body. Experts say: in order to lose excess pounds, you should not set strict limits. After all, they make a person eat more than is necessary to maintain a normal weight.
Eating tips
How to control your appetite on your own, without the help of pills? First of all, you should eat at the same time. Regularity of the diet is important to maintain the optimal concentration of insulin in the blood. With its sharp decrease, a person feels the need for food. Slow eating is also a great way to control the volume of foods. This recommendation is due to physiological characteristics. A signal of saturation enters the central nervous system about half an hour after eating.
In order not to succumb to unnecessary temptations, for example, the desire to try a beautiful cake in a cafe, you should try to eat at home. When setting the table, it is recommended to use dishes of cold colors, as bright plates excite a feeling of hunger. A quarter of an hour before eating, you need to drink 400 milliliters of water, juice or low-fat yogurt. There should be often (up to 6 times a day), but in small volumes.
The effect of sleep duration on hunger
Another way to control your appetite is to have a good rest.
In his absence, a person feels overwhelmed and lacking energy, which he seeks to make up with food. Usually a lack of sleep leads to the desire to feast on desserts, chocolate, flour products, that is, foods containing a lot of carbohydrates. The result of such a diet are various pathologies. During proper rest in the body, a substance is produced that is responsible for the breakdown of lipids and a feeling of satiety. Accordingly, its lack enhances the appetite.
Diet recommendations
To make the process of getting rid of excess kilograms safe and easy, you should abandon meals that contribute to the active production of gastric juice. These are alcoholic drinks, spicy, pickled and salty dishes, smoked meats, sauces.
How to control appetite with the right choice of products? First, you should regularly eat fresh fruits and berries (figs, pineapples, cherries, oranges, pears, grapes). As vegetables, zucchini, potatoes, various types of cabbage, steamed, as well as salads, greens, are suitable. If you want to enjoy dessert, you should give preference to a dark chocolate bar. Another piece of advice on how to control your appetite is to eat iodine-containing foods (sea delicacies, kelp, fish).
Useful products that include serotonin (cheese, kernel kernels, oatmeal, bananas) and chromium (liver, baked wholemeal flour, yeast). An excellent substitute for cakes and pastries is honey or dried fruit. You can add them to porridge, and then it will become even tastier. A decoction of ginger root, yogurt or yogurt, green tea, the first dish of meat, vegetables or fish will help get rid of the obsessive hunger.
Other methods
Using various plant oils also helps control appetite. It is enough to inhale their fragrance several times, and the feeling of hunger disappears. This tool is an excellent option to refrain from excess food or unnecessary snacking. To combat increased appetite, anise, orange, grapefruit, lemon, caraway seeds, sage, and laurel oil are used. The smell of chocolate, peach, vanilla or coffee will help get rid of hunger.
Today there is a wide selection of means, taking which a person consumes much less food. However, medications that control appetite should not be used often and in large quantities. They serve only as an auxiliary method. Before taking pills, you must read the instructions, because there are conditions in which such medications are prohibited. Popular drugs include:
- "Reduxin" (allows you to reduce the amount of consumed products).
- Garcinia forte (reduces the need for desserts).
- "Liquid chestnut" (reduces cravings for food, normalizes metabolism and myocardial function).
- Multivitamin complexes.
- Microcrystalline cellulose.
Feeling of hunger as a result of emotional instability
Today in the life of every individual there is a lot of stress. One of the easiest ways to deal with it is your favorite foods. Dishes that a person often ate when he was a child in a tense situation allow him to relax, feel as comfortable as in the parental home, where he was cared for.
Many individuals in a state of emotional overload are faced with the problem of excess pounds. They ask: “If I can’t control my appetite, what should I do in this situation?” In this case, you should find another source of positive experiences that is not related to food. This can be a hobby, favorite songs, baths with aromatic oils, sports, walking, socializing. If you want to please yourself with a treat, you should not completely abandon it. You need to slowly and calmly eat a small portion of the dessert.
Appetite during the period of bearing a child
Constant hunger is a normal occurrence for expectant mothers. It is associated with the fact that in the body there is a change in the balance of hormones. In the early stages of gestation, a woman loses her appetite. But a little time passes, and she begins to feel a constant craving for food. For the future mother and child, good nutrition is necessary. Although in this case there is a risk of gaining excess kilograms that affect health. How to control appetite during pregnancy? Many people notice that in such a period you want unusual combinations of products. This is because a woman lacks certain substances.
The following tips will help you cope with a strong appetite:
- The craving for desserts can be eliminated if you consume enough proteins (meat, eggs), berries, cereals, fruits.
- It is worth restricting salty foods. It is better to give preference to fresh cucumbers, fish fillets.
- Instead of ice cream, you should eat low-fat yogurt.
- As a substitute for confectionery, rye bread with jam, crackers with added fruit, dried fruits, dark chocolate bar are suitable.
- It is worth abandoning soda in favor of natural juice or mineral water.
- It should be eaten often, but in small quantities. You need to cook dishes for a couple. Boiled, stewed or boiled dishes are also useful.
Severe hunger before critical days
Many are interested in how to control appetite during PMS.
Indeed, during this period, the balance of hormones changes. This leads to instability of the emotional background, the desire to cope with anxiety with food. In order not to gain excess kilograms, you need to remember the following rules:
- Instead of desserts, include fresh and dried fruits, cereals, fruit juices without sugar in the menu.
- Add vegetables (potatoes should be limited), greens, pastries from rye flour, pasta, and cereals (oatmeal, boiled rice) to the diet.
- Reduce fluid intake. Exclude drinks containing ethyl alcohol, caffeine.