What Are You Satisfying – Hunger Or Appetite?

Hunger and appetite are actually two conflicting terms that are quite unfortunately used colloquially as synonyms. Failing to understand the difference has its own seemingly justified grounds but, the impact of such ignorance has never been too good in the long run. What are you satisfying, your hunger or your appetite? This is counted among those questions that people are sure to pause for a minute or two before attempting to answer. However, simple enlightenment can help you see through the similarity and establish each for what they denote. And, here is how you can uncover the truth behind the terms and finally get to determine to which you have devoted your existence to.

What is Hunger?

Hunger is a ‘biological need’ that is best when not denied. This is a kind of indication that the body gives out after using up nutrition that was last provided to it, and gets ready for a fresh dose of the same. The wisdom of our ancestors is reflective in the saying that ‘hunger keeps a person alive’. If you don’t feel hungry, you will never know when to eat. And if you are among those who eat to live than the other way round, then you are most likely to face severe consequences for not satiating your hunger. Rumbling of an empty stomach is by far the best way of knowing that you are hungry.

What is Appetite?

Unlike hunger, appetite is the ‘desire to eat’. When you say that a certain person has a large appetite, it does not necessarily mean that the concerned person needs a larger portion of food to satiate his / her hunger. It simply means that he / she can eat much more than necessary and their stomach are large enough to handle as much food as is passed on to it. A person who is ruled by appetite does not need to feel hungry to eat. They eat simply for the love of eating. In fact, most of them would happily agree that they are the ones who live to eat than the other way round.

Ruled by Appetite or Guided by Hunger – Impacts and Consequences:

People who respond to hunger respond to their natural instincts. They are the ones who are more likely to eat the right portions of food to maintain nutrition levels in the body than be ruled by their taste buds. These are also the people who usually remain unaffected by the desire to eat when their stomachs are not demanding nutrition. Therefore, in the short or the long run, they are the ones who maintain good health, remain in shape and are also free of numerous diseases and disorders that can claim the body because of over eating.

On the other hand, people who are ruled by their appetite respond more to their desire to eat than follow their natural instincts. More often than not, they cannot tell the difference between eating too much and eating right leading them to consume far more than what their bodies can process. The inevitable consequence of such actions shows in the form of weight gain and obesity followed by infinite other issues like developing diseases like diabetes and many more of the like.