Appetite and weight

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Appetite and weight

May 28, 2005 11:20 AM EST | Diet & Nutrition , Weight Loss | Email to Friend

To control your food intake and maintain a healthy weight, you would first need to understand why you feel the need to eat?

Appetite
Appetite is the desire to eat food, felt as hunger. It is regulated by a close interplay between the digestive tract, adipose tissue and the brain.

Factors Related to Appetite
Researchers believe that the Appetite is influenced by the brain stem, which is independent of the hypothalamus. The hunger center stimulates an individual to eat while the satiety center extinguishes the need for food.

Food Intake & Appetite
We should not forget to eat when our appetite is poor. We should have frequent small meals, and more importantly managing health or nutrition drinks between meals is good.

Appetite is often referred to in the same sense as hunger.

What about Appetite:
According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Use of Nutritive and Nonnutritive Sweeteners, low-calorie sweeteners can be used to control weight and it is also beneficial in controlling the glucose levels in the blood.

Over-the-Counter Appetite Suppressants
Over-the-counter (OTC) appetite suppressants are generally less regulated, less studied and in most cases less effective than prescription-only appetite suppressants.

Some of the active ingredients in OTC include:

1. 5 – Hydroxytryptophan : 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5- HTP) is the intermediate metabolite of the essential amino acid L-tryptophan (LT) in the biosynthesis of serotonin. Intestinal absorption of 5-HTP does not require the presence of a transport molecule, and is not affected by the presence of other amino acids; therefore it may be taken with meals without reducing its effectiveness. 5-HTP is well absorbed from an oral dose, with about 70 percent ending up in the bloodstream. It easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and effectively increases central nervous system (CNS) synthesis of serotonin.

2. Phenylpropanolamine : Phenylpropanolamine may cause restlessness, irritability and high blood pressure in some patients. In a patient who has a history of heart disease or high blood pressure it would be a good idea to think carefully about using phenylpropanolamine.

Appetite Use to control Hunger for Healthy Weight:The fundamental principle underlying adequate eating is to use your appetite to control your hunger. If you wait to eat until you are physiologically hungry, you may eat four or five times the amount you need to fill the nutritional stores. Many people skip meals and then "pig out." It is relatively easy to fight off your appetite but nearly impossible to fight off your hunger. To prevent this situation, eat nutritious and a balanced meal every day. Avoid allowing yourself to become physiologically hungry by using your appetite to control your hunger.

References:
USANA RESET weight loss program
USANA Low Glycemic Foods