Have you ever wondered why people love to eat? Well, apart from the basic survival instinct that drives humans to eat, there is another complex chemical reaction that takes place inside a human’s brain.
Eating, and especially eating food with a high quantity of sugar stimulates the production of dopamine in the body. Dopamine makes people feel good, and it is the same feeling that we have after an intimate encounter.
So, now that we know why we eat, we should also make note that dopamine causes us to overeat, and that is where all the problems start. Such times call for a moderation in our eating patterns. In this article, we discuss how to stop overeating and what are the ill-effects of eating too much. Take a look.
Overeating can only be addressed by knowing what causes it in the first place. Eating is essential for survival. However, with all the culinary advancements in the world, eating has gone way beyond just the realms of survival. Today, we eat to experience, to indulge and to feel good about ourselves. Like we discussed above, eating induces dopamine in the body which leaves you with a similar effect as an intimate encounter.
In order to stop eating too much, there are a few ways to need to keep in mind.
Okay, so now let’s address the elephant in the room. The problem with overeating is that no one stops you from doing that. People will warn you not to drugs, or to jump off from a cliff because it is dangerous. However, overeating is as much fatal. You need to keep a check on your eating patterns, and this is how you can stop overeating.
#1. Follow The Hunger Scale
So, when do you generally eat? Many people will say that when they feel hungry. However, that is not one bit true. People don’t know what real hunger feels like. To understand that, we have the hunger scale. The worst part of that scale is starvation. When you are starving, you feel headaches and all kinds of jitters. That is what being really hungry is. We would never advise you starve yourself before eating a meal though. Eat when you are moderately hungry. People generally eat when they are satisfied which is an absolutely wrong thing to do.
(Image Courtesy: The Sensible Foodie)
#2. Set A Frequency
There has to be a time interval between your meals. Doctors advise that the ideal time interval to refuel the human body is every four hours. So, if you eat your breakfast at 10 in the morning, skip your lunch until it’s 2 in the noon; no matter how hungry you feel. You need to strictly follow this 4-hour rule if you want to stop overeating.
#3. Eat Good Breakfast
Let’s come to the most important way in which you can stop overeating. You need to have a big and a fulfilling breakfast at the beginning of each day. If you don’t eat in the morning, your survival instinct will drive you to eat more than required in the rest of the day. Also, include a lot of protein in your breakfast so that you can easily manage the four-hour break between meals.
(Image Courtesy: Pixdaus)
Ill-Effects Of Overeating
1 in every 3 Americans is obese. This is a worrying statistic. Obesity is one of the biggest enemies of humans as it takes away around 5-6 years from a person’s life. This is the same as smoking cigarettes regularly for 20 years.
(Image Courtesy: NDTV)
Overeating can lead to many other physical, emotional, and social problems for a person. It can turn a person insane and induce weird mood swings of anger and self-hate. In fact, overeating and compulsive eating have the same effects on humans as heroin and cocaine.
Do you think you are overeating? Let us know in the comments below.
(Featured Image Courtesy: The Telegraph)
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