Four Types of Hunger in Intuitive Eating

In intuitive eating, you hear a lot about hunger. But did you know we tend to experience other types of hunger more often than just physical hunger?

There's four types of hunger in intuitive eating - physical, emotional, taste and practical.

It's incredibly important to know what kind of hunger you're experiencing, it's important to honour your hunger and fuelling your body appropriately.

I'm writing this post as a resource based off my experience, hoping to teach those who wants to take control of their wellness as a whole.

THE FOUR TYPES OF HUNGER

Physical Hunger

This simply is a signal that our body needs food, it needs energy. It normally feels like your stomach is empty for a starter. Since our body lacks energy at this point, some signs such as stomach growling and low energy levels is something that would start to show. In worst case scenario, we'd feel fatigue, headaches, and shakiness. This is your body signalling you that you have to eat! There's no option for suppressing physical hunger, but to eat.

Taste Hunger

Taste Hunger often happens when you have a taste for a specific food. Often after having your savoury meal, do you ever get cravings for something sweet? Possibly a desert? Taste hunger is a valid hunger, just remember to not overdo it. Before intuitive eating, I would have room for dessert. However, personally feeding into taste hunger lead me to overeating and poor food choices which affected my overall health. With intuitive eating, I learned to either satisfy my tase hunger or holding off and tuning in with my body if I'm still craving it later.

Emotional Hunger

This typically happens when you have an unmet emotional need that presents itself with a desire to eat food. I personally experienced emotional eating numerous of time. It used to be one of my coping mechanism - to soothe and provide comfort, or to numb or distract how I'm feeling. This is triggered by feeling of stress, sadness, or boredom. This lead me to consume food more than what I had needed. I learned that I'm experiencing this type of hunger when I say to myself but I just ate within the last hour or so, I feel the need for security of comfort, and I am currently feeling an uncomfortable or intense emotion. I've learned to keep a food diary, and have with this type of hunger, I've learned my emotional eating triggers that had lead me to mindless eating.

Practical Hunger

Practical hunger isn't really a hunger but rather a feeling the need to eat. Think of it as being on a long road trip and there's no other washrooms available, so you feel the need to use it knowing there won't be one for a while. I recall when I had a long day at university with back to back presentations for 3 hours long, and volunteering for 2 hours after. I knew I didn't have access to food therefore I had to eat to ensure my body was fuelled properly.

MINDFUL EATING PRACTICES

Some of Mindful Eating Practices I've incorporated to ensure I feel full, balanced blood sugar, and keeps me concentrated. You can incorporate in your lifestyle.

• Consume leisurely - take your time to chew each bite and relish the flavours of the food. Did you know you're supposed to chew your food more than 20 times on average? This can help the digestive system to break down your food easier.

• Engage all senses - the colours, textures, aroma, sounds and taste of the food. For example, when I'm eating pineapple. I admire the colour of the vibrant yellowish exterior with its rough texture skin. The tropical aroma of the pineapple, with its distinctive scent takes me back when I'd eat it by the beach in the Philippines (full of sunshine and warm weather). Mhm, then comes the flavour. It's refreshing tangy taste, my favourite part is when the pineapple juice is sweet and tangy.

• Mindful presence - when eating, I ensure I am not distracted with other things (i.e., watching a movie) as this allows me to notice any thoughts or emotions that may arise as I eat and just simply enjoying the sensory experience of eating the pineapple.