From birth, our bodies are finely tuned to meet our nutritional needs. Infants triple their birth weight in the first year, driven by an instinctual drive to feed. As we grow, our nutritional requirements evolve, often imperceptibly. Toddlers experience a natural decline in appetite, coinciding with slower growth rates. Adolescents undergo growth spurts, requiring increased caloric intake, yet they often maintain lean physiques as their bodies efficiently utilize energy.
However, as adults, our eating patterns become influenced by various factors beyond mere nutritional needs. Cultural norms, social settings, and emotional states often dictate our food choices. In our 30s and 40s, metabolic rates typically slow, yet many continue to consume as they did in their youth, leading to weight gain. This phenomenon is not due to a loss of the brain’s ability to track nutritional needs but rather a result of behavioral choices. Our conscious decisions often override the body’s natural hunger cues, leading to overeating.
The brain’s reward system, particularly the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, plays a significant role in our eating behaviors. Highly palatable foods can activate this system, making us more likely to overeat. Additionally, stress and emotional states can impair the prefrontal cortex’s inhibitory control, leading to impulsive eating behaviors. This interplay between the brain’s reward system and our conscious choices underscores the complexity of eating behaviors.
To align our eating habits with our body’s true nutritional needs, it’s essential to cultivate awareness and mindfulness. Recognizing emotional triggers, understanding the difference between physical hunger and emotional cravings, and implementing strategies like intuitive eating can help restore balance. By re-establishing a connection between our conscious choices and our body’s signals, we can make informed decisions that support our health and well-being.
In conclusion, while our bodies are equipped to regulate nutritional intake, our conscious choices often lead us astray. By becoming more attuned to our body’s signals and understanding the underlying factors influencing our eating behaviors, we can make choices that honor our true nutritional needs.
The author of the award-winning book, Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure, and Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Dr. John Poothullil, advocates for patients struggling with the effects of adverse lifestyle conditions.
Dr. John’s books, available on Amazon, have educated and inspired readers to take charge of their health. You can take many steps to make changes in your health, but Dr. John also empowers us to demand certain changes in our healthcare system. His latest book, Beat Unwanted Weight Gain, reveals the seven most essential strategies for shedding pounds—and keeping them off for good.
Follow or contact Dr. John at drjohnonhealth.com.
John Poothullil practiced medicine as a pediatrician and allergist for more than 30 years, with 27 of those years in the state of Texas. He received his medical degree from the University of Kerala, India in 1968, after which he did two years of medical residency in Washington, DC and Phoenix, AZ and two years of fellowship, one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the other in Ontario, Canada. He began his practice in 1974 and retired in 2008. He holds certifications from the American Board of Pediatrics, The American Board of Allergy & Immunology, and the Canadian Board of Pediatrics.During his medical practice, John became interested in understanding the causes of and interconnections between hunger, satiation, and weight gain. His interest turned into a passion and a multi-decade personal study and research project that led him to read many medical journal articles, medical textbooks, and other scholarly works in biology, biochemistry, physiology, endocrinology, and cellular metabolic functions. This eventually guided Dr. Poothullil to investigate the theory of insulin resistance as it relates to diabetes. Recognizing that this theory was illogical, he spent a few years rethinking the biology behind high blood sugar and finally developed the fatty acid burn switch as the real cause of diabetes.Dr. Poothullil has written articles on hunger and satiation, weight loss, diabetes, and the senses of taste and smell. His articles have been published in medical journals such as Physiology and Behavior, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Journal of Women’s Health, Journal of Applied Research, Nutrition, and Nutritional Neuroscience. His work has been quoted in Woman’s Day, Fitness, Red Book and Woman’s World.Dr. Poothullil resides in Portland, OR and is available for phone and live interviews.To learn more buy the books at: amazon.com/author/drjohnpoothullil
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