Hunger is not well-understood. It seems to me that it is even less known than thirst is. When I am thirsty, it almost always means that I need more fluid, though I may have a dry throat from allergies or nerves, but usually it is clear that what I need is something to drink.
But with hunger my subjective feeling that I want something to eat is very complex and it is very difficult to analyze exactly what this means. I can look in the mirror and know with some confidence that I would not suffer much from a few days without food, but at the same time I feel a bit lightheaded if I don't eat a little something between meals, especially on work days. But even when my body is not asking for nourishment, I can feel a hunger so deep that I would rather go through just about anything than not feed it, or so it seems.
In Mindful Eating, Jan Chozen Bays identifies seven distinct hungers; eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, cellular hunger, mind hunger, and heart hunger. She also says that thirst can sometimes masquerade as hunger. This makes a great deal of sense to me. I know that I often eat for reasons other than bodily needs, and most often because I am tired, sad, or stressed. But I had never really considered how many different ways there are to be hungry. I would like to spend a bit more time on this topic and will take it up again tomorrow.
(This discussion on hunger is continued in a second and a third post.)
But with hunger my subjective feeling that I want something to eat is very complex and it is very difficult to analyze exactly what this means. I can look in the mirror and know with some confidence that I would not suffer much from a few days without food, but at the same time I feel a bit lightheaded if I don't eat a little something between meals, especially on work days. But even when my body is not asking for nourishment, I can feel a hunger so deep that I would rather go through just about anything than not feed it, or so it seems.
In Mindful Eating, Jan Chozen Bays identifies seven distinct hungers; eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, cellular hunger, mind hunger, and heart hunger. She also says that thirst can sometimes masquerade as hunger. This makes a great deal of sense to me. I know that I often eat for reasons other than bodily needs, and most often because I am tired, sad, or stressed. But I had never really considered how many different ways there are to be hungry. I would like to spend a bit more time on this topic and will take it up again tomorrow.
(This discussion on hunger is continued in a second and a third post.)
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