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Cephalic Hunger
Hunger starts in the Brain
Hunger is not just a stomach problem. It is influenced by expectations, habits and by the brain (cephalic means related to the brain). Hunger increases when you think about food. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns wafting through the mall suddenly makes you hungry when you weren’t before. The thought of fresh popcorn in the theater suddenly makes you hungry. Seeing a television advertisement for chips or ice cream makes you suddenly crave those foods. It’s no accident that there are trays of tempting donuts whenever you buy a coffee. The French have a saying “You eat first with your eyes” to describe this phenomenon.
Hunger is not merely triggered by the need for calories or nutrients. Your body fat contains hundreds of thousands of stored calories. You don’t get hungry because you suddenly feel like you didn’t eat enough protein. It is primarily our senses — the thought, anticipation, sight, smell, taste, texture, and mouth sensation of food determine whether and how much we eat.
