the four types of hunger

You may be surprised to know that there are actually 4 types of hunger that your body experiences.

Understanding the different types of hunger can be crucial in maintaining a healthy relationship with food.

By recognising these types, you can better understand what your body needs and make informed decisions about what and when to eat.

This knowledge can also help you avoid overeating or under eating, and promote a balanced and sustainable approach to nutrition.

Learning about the four types of hunger is a valuable tool in achieving overall health and wellness, so let me teach you all about it!

1. PHYSICAL HUNGER:

This is type of hunger that you are probably most familiar with!
It’s your body communicating to you that it needs more fuel.

You will experience some of the classic signs of hunger:

• stomach growling

• headache

• fatigue

• lack of concentration
  

  This means it’s time to eat!
  
  2. TASTE HUNGER:
  
  This is when you are not physically hungry, but you have a craving for something that you genuinely want to enjoy the taste of.

This kind of hunger is also communicating a need - not necessarily a physical need, but a mental need.

Honouring your cravings is important, because pushing your cravings away will only create more out of control feelings around food.

When it comes to satisfying your taste hunger, the trick is to practice mindfulness while eating. Take your time to savour the flavours and textures, and relish the experience of enjoying your craving.

3. PRACTICAL HUNGER:

This type of hunger also involves eating in the absence of physical hunger.

Practical hunger means planning ahead, and eating in advance of physical hunger because you know that you won’t have access to food when you do start to get hungry.

For example, you have meetings that are going to last 4-5 hours, and you’re not hungry right now but you know that by the end of the meetings you’ll be starving. In this circumstance, it’s important to eat now so that you remain satisfied throughout.

4. EMOTIONAL HUNGER:

Emotional hunger occurs when you are responding to an emotion with food.
This your body and mind communicating to you that there are emotions present. You might be responding to comfortable emotions, such as joy or excitement, or uncomfortable emotions, such as sadness or guilt.

It's completely normal to experience emotional hunger and emotionally eat occasionally. But if you find yourself regularly relying on emotional eating, or if it's interfering with your nutritional goals, it may be time to broaden your coping strategies and make room for more aligned nutritional habits.

There are many reasons we might eat, and not all of them are because we have the physical signs of hunger.

The key to having a healthy and balanced diet is understanding the for the 4 types of hunger, and starting to learn and listen to what your body is asking for!

LOT’S OF LOVE,
CLAUDIA XX