The foods we're going to look at below are major contributors and creators of poor eating habits. Not only do some of them offer zero nutritional value, but they also leave you hungrier and make you want more.
In your relationship with food, these foods are toxic partners.
For more information on healthy coping with hunger, check out these tips on ordering food online.
Here are some foods you may want to cut from your diet.
1. Cheese
Humans are wired to have an 'addiction reaction' to the protein casein found in milk. This allows babies to desire more of their mother's milk. When it comes to cheese, casein is more concentrated which means its compounds known as casomorphins, when combined with salt and fat result in an obsession with cheese. So the more you eat, the more you crave.
2. Juice
The process of making juice strips them of their fibre making them high-calorie beverages. Once stripped of the fibre, they travel very fast not allowing absorption into the bloodstream. They also cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash leaving you hungrier.
The best way to prepare your juice is to mix fruits and veggies in a blender and drink them. Use a nut butter or protein powder to make the blend better for absorption. Stick to eating your fruits and veggies and drinking water for hydration.
3. Egg whites
Most of the nutrients in eggs are concentrated in the yolk. This includes vitamins, fats, and minerals. The saturated fats in the yolk are important in making you feel full and in hormone production that supports the absorption of vitamins and minerals. So if you eat only the white part, you will feel hungry faster.
4. Ketchup
Ketchup is made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which can build your tolerance to feeling full. HFCS essentially slows the production of the hormone leptin which helps you feel full. So it interrupts communication between the brain and body which lets your body know it should stop eating.
5. Foods labeled "healthy"
When foods are labeled healthy, it lulls us into ordering large portions but we feel less satisfied afterward. Some nutrition experts say the reason behind this is likely that we subconsciously programme ourselves to associate unhealthy foods with satiety.
Always check the ingredients in the foods labeled 'healthy'. To get started on picking legit healthy foods, here are some nutritional red flags to look out for in packed foods.
6. Muffins
Have you ever had a big muffin and found yourself hungry quickly after? Well, muffins are almost entirely sugar loaded with calories. This sugar is quickly digested and absorbed leaving your body in starving mode!
7. Salty snacks
If you are a fan of crisps and other salty snacks, you may want to know where your love for them comes from.
Salty snacks have high sodium concentrations with little to no fibre or protein to back them up. So they quickly dehydrate your body and trick it into wanting more of the snack instead of getting a glass of water. They are also carbohydrate-laden which means they make your blood sugar spike and crash. The sodium also triggers the pleasure hormone dopamine which makes you want more of the snack.
8. Low-fibre foods
Processed and refined foods have low fibre content. This fibre is what slows down the digestion and absorption of food into the bloodstream. So refined and processed foods pass through the stomach and enter the bloodstream very fast leaving behind a storm of blood insulin which is released to remove sugar from the blood. It is this insulin which causes excess hunger afterward.
9. Fruit smoothies
Smoothies often lack vegetables and proteins which makes them fructose. When you take fruit smoothies, your blood sugar goes crazy and then crashes, and since the smoothies are often low in calories, you are left with more hunger and a blood sugar hangover.
10. Fast foods
Fast foods are loaded with HFCS, salt, trans fats, and preservatives which interrupt the communication between the stomach and brain. The hormones that are responsible for regulating eating and satisfaction are not released which leaves us eating more. The salt also makes the body retain water leaving us feeling bloated and dehydrated.
Hunger goes hand in hand with the body's need for water. Sometimes hunger is the body's way of telling you to rehydrate.