Hunger For Health: How Good Is It For You?
For most people in the world, the concept of hunger for health is new, especially in developed countries, where food is abundant, accessible and cheap. The concerns citizens of such countries have about food are its quality, safety, and nutritional value.
It was not always like this. For humans, hunger was a normal part of life throughout millennia. Food had to be produced, gathered, or caught, through intense labor and proper planning. We had to work hard to deserve our food, and it was usually only enough to provide survival.
Modern medical science focused mostly on the harmful effects of hunger. The dominant opinion among experts was that not eating is bad for health, which is not entirely true. Constant intake of energy provided by easily accessible food can be terrible too.
In this article, we explain how hunger can help your body to regenerate, maintain a healthy weight, and prevent some severe chronic conditions.
How Hunger Helps the Body?
The body needs time to digest and use up the energy (calories) it received from food. This energy usage requires constant work as long as we keep eating.
For the body to rest, we need to give it some time away from food. During this time, the body can digest, heal, and repair the cells.
The process of cell reparation is also known as autophagy. During this period, the cells recycle themselves. They clean up the dead protein and “bad cells” and replace them with healthy cells.
Autophagy is a very positive process. The more time the cell gets to “clean up,” the better. However, if we never take a break from eating, the body will not have enough time to heal itself.
Positive Effects of Hunger for Health
Being hungry is hardly anybody’s favorite activity. That is because it is not easy, especially if you do it willingly. However, there is some good news.
Hunger is worst at the beginning. The body gets used to it very fast. It usually takes just a few days for the body to recognize this new condition as a healthy state. Once this happens, it becomes easier to reap the benefits of controlled hunger, such as:
- Improved Insulin Function
Every time we eat, our blood sugar levels rise. This a perfectly normal reaction. However, for people who suffer from insulin resistance, that can be a big problem. Here is why.
When the blood sugar rise occurs, the pancreas increases insulin production to bring blood sugar levels back to reasonable value. Frequent blood sugar spikes, which are commonly caused by the modern western diet rich in carbs, can disrupt normal processes in the body and cause insulin resistance (Diabetes Type II).
More extended periods without eating give the pancreas time to rest. As a result, the blood sugar rises less often, and insulin levels remain lower.
- Improved Cell Function
As we mentioned earlier, autophagy is a process in which the cells recycle themselves. Reducing the energy intake for some time, helps cells regenerate and eliminate waste and toxins. This reduction lowers the risk of many chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, etc. It also improves the functioning of the metabolism and promotes tissue repair.
- Weight loss
Staying hungry, intentionally, for a longer time, does not necessarily mean a lower caloric intake. After all, it is possible to eat all your daily caloric needs in one meal. Balanced nutrition remains very important too.
In practice, however, overweight people will likely lose weight once they decide to increase the number of hours during which they do not eat. This weight loss comes from the effects of reduced hunger, improved metabolism, and improved insulin function.
Hunger for Health, The Best Way to Do It
If you are trying to increase the number of non-eating hours, it is a good idea to include your sleeping time into the equation. So, you can choose not to eat for several hours before sleeping or try to push back breakfast as much as you can. Both methods will work equally well if you maintain a balanced diet rich in essential nutrients and make sure to keep a healthy weight.
The Final Word
Even if food is delicious and easily accessible, we should not eat all the time. Our body needs a rest from eating as much as it requires a rest from physical and mental activities. Reward your body with the feeling of real hunger at least once every day, and it will return the favor with numerous health benefits.
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