How to control appetite? The best secrets!

Controlling the appetite is important, especially for those who have excessive appetite and don’t control themselves or who want to lose weight and can’t control themselves.

The appetite is the desire to eat that we all endure, especially women during the menstrual cycle.

The first thing that needs to be clarified is the difference between hunger and the desire to eat:

• Hunger: it’s a physiological need, since your body needs it.

• Appetite or desire to eat: it has to do more with bad habits, anxiety, boredom, hormonal imbalances or blood sugar levels ups and downs, things that cause the desire to eat everything.

This way, the difference could be translated into:

Hunger = Need

Appetite = Desire

Secrets to control appetite

Don’t abuse of carbohydrates (especially simple and refined)

Watch the amount of carbohydrates you eat, especially simple carbohydrates such as common sugar, honey or fruits, or refined, like all processed white flours.

These are absorbed by the body more quickly, causing a sudden increase in the sugar (glucose) levels in the bloodstream.

Therefore, Insulin, which is the hormone responsible for regulating blood glucose and distributing it throughout the body so it can be used as an energy source and can keep our body functioning, will respond to lower that level of blood sugar, and by reducing blood sugar so quickly, it causes a great desire to eat.

You have to keep your glucose levels stable, to do this, choose complex carbohydrates with high fiber content such as: oats, brown rice, legumes.

If the glucose levels stay stable, it will be released gradually and you’ll keep your energy levels regulated, increasing the feeling of satiety.

Eat foods rich in insoluble fibers

Insoluble fibers, like whole grains, seeds or fruit peels, don’t absorb water and remain practically intact in our body, improving our digestive system.

They help you to stay satiated for longer and to reduce the appetite.

Try to eat every 2-3 hours

Don’t spend more than 4 hours without eating, because the hunger will be accumulated with the desire to eat.

If you spend a lot of time without eating, the hormone that lowers your appetite (leptin) will have a very low level and you’ll want to eat everything.

Try to eat at least 4 or 5 times a day, by eating more often you’ll maintain the blood glucose levels stable and control your appetite.

Eat enough proteins

Include proteins in most of your meals.

Proteins are digested slowly.

By taking longer to be digested, they will cause that it takes more time before you feel hungry. This way, you’ll promote a more prolonged feeling of satiation and you’ll help to diminish your appetite.

Examples of foods with proteins: chicken, egg, fish, legumes, quinoa, spirulina, veal or protein supplements.

Eat good fats

Studies reveal that:

“(…) fats do have an effect on satiety and appear to regulate appetite through several mechanisms including the release of appetite hormones (…).”

Some foods with healthy fats are: avocado, seeds, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, fish (like salmon), dried fruits.

Consider taking supplements

There are some ideal supplements to control the appetite. Some examples are: Chromium Picolinate and Chitosan.

Chromium Picolinate

This supplement helps to control the appetite and to reduce the desire to eat.

Chromium is an important mineral for maintaining normal levels of glucose in the blood, and is responsible for increasing the metabolism of carbohydrates.

It promotes the use of carbohydrates as a source of energy and avoids fat storage.

Chitosan

It’s an amino polysaccharide derived from crustaceans and helps to inhibit the absorption of fats by the body.

It also has a regulating function for the blood cholesterol levels.

Some Chitosan supplements are enriched with other ingredients to promote a feeling of satiety, which is the case for Now Chitosan and for Universal Chitosan Plus.

Consult an expert before taking any supplements of this range.

Get enough exercise

Exercise helps to control the appetite, while it keeps you occupied.

The amount of neurotransmitters and hormones that you release or control by exercising helps you to eat more consciously, to control yourself a little more and to avoid getting that crazy desire to eat badly, as you can see in some studies:

“(…) evidence suggests that acute exercise transiently suppresses appetite, and does not stimulate compensatory changes in appetite, appetite-regulatory hormones (…).”

Avoid highly processed foods (hyper palatable foods)

Especially highly processed foods, any food that’s heavily processed, will activate the button of reward and comfort in your brain, thus encouraging you to continue eating it.

The chemicals and additives that these foods contain are designed to make you eat almost without getting satiated, especially because they’re quickly absorbed and digested, and therefore they will make you feel hungry more quickly.

Don’t constantly deprive yourself

Treat yourself once or twice a week if you deserve it, if you’ve done a lot of exercise and feel like you deserve it, reward yourself, but don’t exaggerate.

Because when you deprive yourself too much, stress and anxiety problems start to appear, which will increase the desire to eat superfluous foods.

By the way, drinking lots of liquids like water, infusions, boleros, will help you to keep controlling that appetite.

Remember that this is a lifestyle, it isn’t everything or nothing, it’s balance and equilibrium.

Keep in mind that what you do during the week is what counts, if 85% of the time you’re behaving well, the remaining 15% won’t cause any problems.

You have to be objective, realistic and disciplined, but mainly balanced.

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