Studies Show That People Have Five Different Appetites

Researchers have discovered that humans and certain animal species have five different appetites. Appetite is actually a much more complex phenomenon than previously thought. The body is a sophisticated machine that always tries to be in balance.

To begin with, it is important to distinguish between hunger and appetite. The first is a strict physiological need. You feel hungry because your body is asking for the nutrients needed for it to function properly. It can be said that hunger is a demand for the fuel that the body needs to run.

Appetite, on the other hand, is a more complicated process. First of all, it is more associated with pleasure than with survival instinct. The basic needs of the body do not necessarily stimulate your appetite. There are other factors that come into play, which is why researchers believe that there are different types of appetite.

What is the difference?

Before we talk about different appetites, we should point out that the hypothalamus regulates people’s need to eat. It sends signals when it needs nutrients to compensate for energy consumption. It also tells your body when it has had enough.

However, previous studies have shown that the hypothalamus does not always signal the body to stop eating. This is especially true when eating foods that are high in fat and sugar. As a result, you may be eating too much of these foods and still not feel full.

Sugar and fat also stimulate the production of two neurotransmitters: dopamine and serotonin. Both are related to feelings of satisfaction and well-being. As you may suspect, this means that these foods can be addictive. Your body reacts to them in the same way as with, for example, narcotic drugs.

Various appetites and lobsters

Now researchers have come up with fascinating new data to add to what we already knew. We have received this new information thanks to biologists David Raubenheimer and Stephen J. Simpson, who have been studying the subject for more than 30 years. They have published the results of his research in the book Eat Like the Animals (Eat like animals) .

The title itself is very suggestive and refers to what these two researchers found. Their main study focused on lobster. They provided a nutritious diet with few carbohydrates to a group of lobsters. The researchers also gave them another diet rich in carbohydrates but low in nutrients.

They experimented with different types of food and always offered nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich alternatives. The lobsters ate a balanced diet. In other words, they ate the right amount of protein, no matter how many carbohydrates they had access to.

A second experiment

To further explore these results, the researchers experimented with two other groups of lobsters. They gave one of the groups a diet high in carbohydrates and low in protein. The second group received the opposite: a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Each lobster was allowed to eat as much as it wanted.

The group that got a lot of protein ate very few carbohydrates. The group that received the high-carbohydrate diet, on the other hand, ate much more to compensate for the lack of protein. Why do these animals prefer protein? The answer is simple: protein guarantees better development and survival.

The researchers actually repeated this experiment with humans and got the same results. This is how they discovered that we have different types of appetite.

Different appetites and weight control

Finally, the researchers concluded that there are five different appetites: on the respective proteins, carbohydrates, fats, calcium and finally the appetite for sodium (salt). In the case of humans, the first three are grouped in the category “macronutrients”.

Industrially produced foods contain mostly fats and carbohydrates. They usually do not contain much protein. Consequently, if your diet consists mainly of these foods, you need to eat more to reach the level of protein that your body needs.

Raubenheimer and Simpson conclude that humans, like 50 different species of animals, have built-in mechanisms for finding a balance in the food they eat. However, this only works properly when you eat food that humans have evolved with. Otherwise the balance is disturbed. So maybe we should take their advice and start eating like animals?