Hungry Hormone and the triggers
Have you ever experienced such huge hunger that you feel nothing you eat can satisfy your appetite? I’m not talking here of someone who is obsessed with food, a binge eater, emotional eater, or someone who is simply greedy and loves to over eat. I am talking about someone who has a healthy eating routine and diet but all of a sudden is driven to massive hunger and finds that nothing they eat really fills them up, the hunger continually urging them to eat and eat. Even after a healthy meal within less than an hour you are hungry again!
If you have, or are experiencing this strange phenomena then rest assured it is more likely to be hormonally triggered. Often occurring mid cycle for approximately 6-7 days or right up the day before bleeding or first day of the menstrual cycle. Then like magic a “switch” seems to go off in your brain and you are back to normal again, finding that the good healthy 3 meal a day eating plan is more than adequate to satisfy you!
This massive hunger that makes you feel you are starved of food all the time can also occur during peri menopause and menopause due to hormonal fluctuations. Only this time if menses have ceased the hunger appears to last indefinitely and you have no reprieve!
Interestingly the symptoms can reflect those of hypoglycemia, without the sugar craving, i.e. palpitations and trembling, excessive perspiration, nervousness, headaches and mental confusion – feeling like cotton wool in the head, personality changes – irritability, quick to anger, highly impatient and aggressive, anti social, lacking motivation and also a feeling of continual weakness with sometimes a fainting feeling and fatigue. These symptoms often equate to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), yet the person may not necessarily crave sweet foods, simply a huge urge to eat and satisfy the uncontrollable hunger.
I know from first hand experience it is very hard to have people understand that this is REAL and not an obsession for food! I must again; point out this is not about someone who is an emotional eater or binge eater, it is about the pure physical need for food and nourishment, like the body is continually starving. You can even experience a deep aching in the gut that seems to travel right up the esophagus to the throat urging you to eat more to stop the ache and fill the emptiness.
It is more apparent in women than men due to the hormonal fluctuations but some men can present with these symptoms – albeit not has excessive, as they also experience male menopause but not with so many troublesome symptoms as women.
The endocrine system is responsible for this abnormal urge to eat due to constant hunger. The pituitary gland is usually out of balance (Master gland of the endocrine system) along with the hypothalamus (Sergeant major of the endocrine system), which controls the appetite. On occasions it could be due to genetic issues with the hypothalamus, and in some cases head impacts in the past could have affected the pituitary. Either way the problem can be helped greatly and some cases resolved with appropriate herbs and homeopathic remedies. A need to balance the glandular function and thereby the relevant hormonal activity generated by these glands is paramount to establishing a normal healthy appetite where the person is fully satisfied on 3 good meals a day.
What does the Hypothalamus do?
The hypothalamus lies in a small area between the thalamus and pituitary, controlling the anterior segment of the pituitary and many of the body's organs through vagus nerve stimulation. The hypothalamus contains several clusters of neurons, commonly designated as nuclei. Research indicates that the arcuate nucleus, houses the appetite centre. Here we find sensors that monitor lipid and sugar levels in the circulation and others sensors which respond to specific hormones. The arcuate nucleus measure’s metabolites and hormone levels, and also coordinates metabolism through adjustment of the activities of the liver, kidneys, intestine and adipose tissue. The hypothalamus controls appetite and coordinates this with energy utilization. This tiny gland is responsible for maintenance of body weight, carefully adjusting food intake to physical activity. So any loss of sensitivity to hormones and metabolites in the arcuate nucleus can lead to unbalanced energy intake and use, resulting in overweight and obesity.
There is nothing worse that having this experience of constant hunger. If left untreated, the person can increase dramatically in weight unless they are fully conversant with the right nutritional value and quality of food and exercise daily. This will assist in maintaining a fairly normal weight but the constant hunger can drain on you mentally and emotionally. It also has impact on your social activities – especially when dining out. Without treating the problem you would find that specific foods, like protein and high complex carbohydrates have to be constantly on hand, meaning that you must carry food with you everywhere you go. It is not possible to obtain the correct foods when you are out and about that can help with this fluctuating hormonal hunger. You would need to constantly graze with mini snacks spaced hourly between the 3 major meals otherwise going to long without food ingestion can exacerbate the already persistent hunger.
Blood glucose testing does not reveal anything abnormal here, since low blood sugar is not always present, and even if it were its often for short periods of time during stressful situations. To receive a blood glucose test over 3-4 hours can be detrimental if you do have low blood sugar since research has indicated that it can even push someone over the line to late on-set diabetes due to the concentration of glucose administered in such a short period of time. Either way, this test will not give you a clear picture since the problem lies with the hypothalamus and pituitary gland function.
Stress will always be a trigger and diminished sleep will certainly instigate an attack of massive hunger and feeling of utter starvation, so you will need to nourish the body on all levels, with sleep, meditation, yoga, and simply time out for yourself whilst eating the correct foods and taking the relevant remedies to balance the hormonal activity.
The adrenal glands and nervous system must be supported with appropriate supplements, along with the thyroid so you are looking at the overall picture here with the focus being on the entire endocrine system.
So, if you feel you are experiencing this problem rest assured that you can balance your glandular/hormonal activity and begin to feel you have a normal healthy appetite again. Whilst achieving this you will also reap benefits such as healthy digestion and bowel function, more energy and aliveness, clarity of mind and improved memory and a positive optimistic outlook on life with increased motivation. How good is that?
Lyn Craven