Hunger pains = ?

[iamchris]

From time to time, maybe before class is out before I can get my next meal, or while I'm exercising, I feel that churning in my stomach and hear those little rumbles.

My stomach wants food, that's simple enough, but what's happening biologically? Like at the end of exercise and I get that feeling, should I stop exercising and have a meal? What should I do when I feel it? Is it necessarily a bad thing.

Most importantly, I'd like to know if that can be a good thing to a small degree. Should I let that feeling sit for say 15 or 30 mins so that I can burn some fat, or am I entering a catabolic state where I'm doing serious damage to muscle?

What's the deal?

[imperfectly_lou]

Interesting question....

I think it would depend on how you divide your meals. I personally eat every 3 hours or less so I never get that full on "starving" feeling.

I don't believe that sitting with that feeling for 30mins will help. At the end of the days, it is total calories that counts so it really doesn't matter

[iamchris]

bumpity bump

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by iamchris
From time to time, maybe before class is out before I can get my next meal, or while I'm exercising, I feel that churning in my stomach and hear those little rumbles.

My stomach wants food, that's simple enough, but what's happening biologically? Like at the end of exercise and I get that feeling, should I stop exercising and have a meal? What should I do when I feel it? Is it necessarily a bad thing.

Most importantly, I'd like to know if that can be a good thing to a small degree. Should I let that feeling sit for say 15 or 30 mins so that I can burn some fat, or am I entering a catabolic state where I'm doing serious damage to muscle?

What's the deal?

No one has pin-pointed the exact regulation of hunger. It is a highly complex interaction of sensory triggers, hormones and chemicals.

Most of it is 'centrally mediated'. This means it is regulated by hormones secreted from nuclei (pockets of cells) in your hypothalamus. This is the part of your brain that controls homeostatic processes such as sleep, sexual drives, thirst, temperature, blood pressure, other hormones and lots of other things. There are two major 'cell pockets' involved in eating. One pocket of cells produces 'neuropeptide Y' and 'agouti-related peptide' which stimulate eating and 'melanocyte-stimulating hormone' and '*******-and- amphetamine-regulated transcript', which stop you eating. The other pocket of cells secretes 'oxytocin' and 'corticotropin-releasing hormone' - these stop you from wanting to eat and 'orexin' and 'melanocyte-concentrating hormone', which cause you to eat.

Other endocrine glands (like the pacreas which secretes insulin - which, when in very high amounts or very low amounts causes you to get hungry, but when it is in moderate amounts, decreases hunger). The intestines themselves also secrete chemicals (like one called CCK and another called gastrin-releasing hormone) which also control hunger. Leptin is also important in hunger.

Other things like seeing or smelling food can trigger hunger and a lack of food in your stomach and intestines causes sensory nerves to be stimulated which cause you to be hungry.

So these all 'feed back' on your hypothalamus which then causes you to get hungry and seek food. One of the ways it tells you to do this is by causing your stomach to grumble.

But - Letting yourself be hungry will not necessarily mean you are 'burning fat'. It could just mean that you have smelt something tasty or that the last meal you ate was quickly digested.

Just feed yourself regularly, with good food at adequate amounts and you will be fine.

EDIT - Found a good article if you are interested:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/conten...=4aE5b8dml9vsM