Science

5 Reasons You Always Feel Hungry (and How to Cure it)

Have you ever eaten a full meal, only to feel hungry an hour later? Do you find your day consists of constantly noshing on snacks and never feeling satisfied?

Turns out, there are many factors that could be contributing to your constant urge to eat. While each individual’s case is different, numerous certified nutritionists and doctors have narrowed the list to five main culprits for our surprising hunger. Thankfully, many of these causes are easily fixed with simple changes to our diet and habits.

Your Sleep is Slacking

In case you needed another reason to hit the hay at a reasonable hour each night, sleep deprivation is also a major culprit for causing you to feel hungry. Getting less than the recommended sleep causes a drop in the levels of leptin produced by the body, the hormone that tells our brains we are full.

As if that weren’t enough, a lack of sleep also negatively affects two other hormones, ghrelin and cortisol. Ghrelin’s main function is to alert the brain whenever we are hungry. Cortisol is the hormone linked to stress, and has a multitude of effects on the body, which includes wanting to constantly eat. Just one bad night of sleep can cause a spike in both ghrelin and cortisol levels, meaning major hunger cravings!

To avoid all the bad hormonal consequences triggered by a poor night’s sleep, aim for a regular bedtime each night. If you have trouble falling asleep, try adding some meditation exercises into your nightly routine, and avoid screens close to bed time.

Blame the Booze

Drinking with Friends can make you feel hungry

Ever notice after throwing back a few drinks while out with friends, you almost always feel hungry afterwards? While alcohol adds up in calories, it has the reverse effect on your brain, causing it to send signals to the rest of your body that you are starving.

Despite the fact you might be consuming sufficient calories with alcoholic drinks included, your body is tricked into thinking otherwise. Suzanne Dixon, a dietician from Florida, recommends getting more calories from nutrient filled food and cutting back on the booze to start feeling full again.

A Troubling Sweet Tooth

Sugary Donuts can cause you to feel hungry

Although sugary sweets like cakes, breads, and soda can serve that quick craving fix, these refined carbohydrates do more of a disservice than just empty calories. The high sugar content in these foods causes rapid changes in blood sugar, which may make you feel satisfied in the moment, but causes you to feel intense hunger later.

This doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your beloved carbohydrates for good, but eating more balanced foods with higher protein content can help you to avoid the sugar rush.

Hungry or Not Hydrated?

Often times when we think we are feeling hungry, we are actually just experiencing dehydration! A simple way to test if that hunger pang is actually thirst is by sipping a glass of water and waiting 15 minutes. If your hunger magically disappears- you can thank hydration for that.

Another easy way to keep hydrated all day is by eating more fruits and vegetables, many of which are loaded in nutrients and water. Watermelon, strawberries, and cucumbers are all great, tasty sources to keep you hydrated and feeling less hungry.

Ditch the Dieting

With summer upon us and the urge to quickly get that beach body, it’s tempting to resort to extreme diets. Nutritionists say this is a serious mistake, for our bodies need a certain number of calories each day to function properly and avoid fatigue. The more tired we are, the hungrier we get… and the more the cravings kick in. Additionally, consuming too little food actually slows down our metabolism– making it that much harder to shed those extra pounds.

If you are trying to lose some weight and not go crazy from hunger, the best advice is to aim for a solid balance of proteins, fats and carbs in your diet. Don’t be afraid to reward yourself and still eat some of your favorite treats- the cravings will subside with everything in moderation!

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You’re not antisocial, you’re just smart

Do you feel like you’re more comfortable when you’re alone? Maybe you prefer carrying out activities like reading and learning in peace, or maybe you prefer quiet places rather than going to a party. This doesn’t mean you’re a “weirdo” like some people have probably called you before. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Your brain allows you to think clearer

Science has proven that your brain actually works better than those of people who always need to be around others. Yes, that’s right. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are just able to think clearer than more “socially involved” people.

Scientifically proven

According to the British Society of Psychology, people who are more reserved socially and prefer to lead a quiet life have obtained a higher score on the intelligence scale. Researchers call this phenomenon the “forest hermit” strategy, which allows them to focus on their personal approach.

According to Satoshi Kanazawa, the director of the investigation, the study showed how most people need to constantly interact with others, whereas the reduced minority that obtained higher scores could all happily work on their own, avoiding interaction with others, and keep it that way.

The Savanna Theory of Happiness

The basis of the study is the Savanna Theory of Happiness. This study establishes that what made our ancestors happy, still makes us happy today: interaction was very special in low populations. However, it seems intelligent people have cut loose from this and don’t care much about social interaction.

“The most intelligent individuals experience a lesser satisfaction of their social lives with more frequent social interaction with friends”
Satoshi Kanazawa

Happier people live in seclusion

The study has concluded that people who leave behind city life to move to a remote town tend to be happier because they have limited communication and are generally stress-free.

This makes you question quite some things, doesn’t it.

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Body odor is the most honest form of communication

Our smell is one of the most powerful senses we have. It allows you to remember things, people, or even places; it helps you decide whether you like something; and it can even help you fall in love with someone, however bizarre this must sound.

Smell can be positive, but also negative

It’s key to realise how much body odor affects our daily lives in order to truly exploit the benefits it can have for us. It can be a real deal-breaker when choosing a parter, or it can be, in turn, a point in favour.

Odor sticks around in our minds

When we smell an odor we like, we are able to remember, and even recognise it in the future. What is interesting to note, though, is that what most sticks around in people’s brains is natural body odor, rather than perfumes or deodorant smells, like people tend to believe.

Give your sweat another chance

In fact, quite the opposite of what we believed to be true occurs. When we kill the bacteria that is our sweat with deodorant, this natural odor is hidden and the production of sweat decreases. This doesn’t play in our favour, however much we might think it does.

Sweat is attractive

Two people who are getting to know each other will most likely find that their experiences feel more intimate when leaving out the “deodorant” factor: both parties play with body odors and attraction.

The scent glands

This body odor we’ve been talking about comes especially from the sweat glandes, which can be found in our armpits. These glandes are the biggest apocrine glands in our bodies.

Apocrine glands are scent glands – this means that what they secrete has a smell to it. In other words, these glands control the smell we produce, which helps us find a partner.

The apocrine glands are actually very useful for two reasons: they can prevent endogamy and they also make us capable of evaluating the other person’s health. This happens because a person’s sweat odor changes with disease and infection.

Free health evaluations

Body odor even reflects what we eat. And if your mind has not been blown by now, then keep reading. If you eat healthily, someone else’s sense of smell can pick it up. The same happens with unhealthy food. We are continually registering health evaluations from the people around us, though we might not actively realise it.

Men vs. women

Another important aspect when talking about body odor, is the differences between men and women. They can be quite significant. Women tend to have a better sense of smell.

They usually become attracted to smells generated from diets that are rich in eggs, cheese, soya, and fruits and vegetables. In turn, women tend to dislike people with diets rich in red meat. Who would have thought.

Men, on the other hand, have a worse sense of smell than women, making them incapable of detecting such details. Women naturally judge more based on odors, than men.

Don’t judge a book by its smell

Body odor forms an opinion in our minds on someone before even talking to them. Just by shaking their hand or greeting them, we already perceive the odor they give off, which generates a reaction in us that helps us decide whether we like said person, or not. This might be a reason as to why we feel we dislike a person without actually knowing them.

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Fossil is found that confirms unicorns walked the earth

Unicorns have always been believed to be non-existing mythological creatures. In fact, it’s a creature that seems so alien to us, that the term now has a wide array of contexts. In other words, we refer as “unicorn” to things or people that we believe are unique, rare or of high value.

It now seems we’re going to have to change how we view the world we live in: a unicorn fossil has been found, and it’s not even that old.

Not so long ago

A unicorn fossil had previously been found in Kazakhstan, but it looked as though our precious horse of a single horn had become extinct 350,000 years ago. With this new fossil, it seems like they were around until not so long ago.

Similar to a mammoth

However exciting this finding can be, it seems that unicorns did not look like the perfect being we thought they were. The fossil belongs to a Siberian unicorn, also known as “Elasmotherium sibiricum“. If you don’t know what this means, try to imagine something similar to a rhino, or even a mammoth, rather than a slender, white horse.

A unicorn’s measurements

Experts claim the unicorn would have been around 2 metres tall and 4 and a half metres long. It would have been as heavy as 4 tons, which more or less equals 2 and a half pallets of red bricks.

What does concur with our imagination is the horn right on the unicorn’s forehead as well as the long fur it would have had. Now you know this, it’s your task to set someone straight if they say unicorns didn’t exist!

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Google’s new translator tool that speaks just like you

Google calls their newest invention the “Translatotron” and it simultaneously translates what you say by copying your voice, tone and cadence.

Translation programmes

Up until now, Google has been the most famous translator on the Internet. By typing in one word you are directly forwarded to it. Google even included a tool that can translate text to voice, text to text and voice o text. However, the voice tool always has the standard “Google” voice, which speaks like a robot and is very monotonous.

A communication barrier

What usually happens with regular translation programmes is that a lot of communication gets lost in the “process”, so to say. In other words, these kind of tools translate sentences word for word, meaning they don’t capture the essence of slang, expressions and other aspects of spoken communication. If it’s sometimes already hard enough to speak to others, imagine if you had to depend on such translation tools.

Google’s Translatotron

Thus, what is so exciting about Google’s new invention, is that is does exactly this: it imitates your voice tone and the cadence of your sentences, which is fundamental in verbal communication.

The system is based on a sequence to sequence model, and works with spectrograms (used to copy voices). The creation is able to retain vocal characteristics from the transmitter, making their speech more natural.

Find out what it sounds like

If you are interested in what these voices might sound like, you can find it here. In the link you will be able to find original voices, conventional translations with the current systems and the results obtained with the application.

Other translation tools

It’s worth to mention that there are currently other systems, like Vbestlife and Ashata, which follow more or less the same pattern of simultaneous translation, but don’t imitate voices yet. They are available for a wide range of prices that goes from just 25 euros, up to 200.

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The ultimate diet to save our planet

The worry about the Earth dying is increasingly present. Slowly but surely, we become more and more aware of what we have done to our planet, and scientists are beginning to say we only have 20 years left to save it. We are destroying our planet, and only have one generation to do something about it. Will a diet be able to do so?

The latest solution

According to not more and not less than 37 scientists who have participated at the EAT-Lancet commission, this diet could prevent 11 million deaths a year. They have been investigating, for a long time, about what would be the best way to feed ourselves while still being respectful with our planet.

Enough with the red meat

Apparently, the key to this diet is a reduced percentage of meat. One hamburger or steak a month, and just a couple of chicken and fish servings a week. The reason behind such small amounts of meat is that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all of the world’s transportation systems combined.

The rest of the diet consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. These should fill half a meal.

What the diet consists of:

According to the diet, we are only allowed 31 grams of sugar a day, and 50 grams of oils (a day) like olive oil. This is what we should ingest in a day:

Legumes: 75 grams
Nuts: 50 grams
Eggs: An egg and a half a week (13 grams)
Fish: 28 grams
Dairy: 250 grams
Meat: 14 grams of red meat, and 29 grams of chicken
Vegetables: 300 grams
Carbohydrates: 232 grams of bread or wholegrain rice, and 50 grams of starchy vegetables (like potatoes)
Fruit: 200 grams

Spread the word

The biggest obstacle for this diet-based solution would be the most obvious one: get a vast part of the world to completely change their diets, which seems to be an almost impossible task.

It is very difficult for a person to change their diet, but there is a reason behind this, and we have our primal instincts to thank for. Long story short: we perceive this change as a threat to our safety, because food is a part of survival.

This perceived threat to our safety, in turn, provokes a sense of fear, leading us to running out of “willpower” to follow through on our diets. Thus, if it’s difficult for one person to change their diet, let alone almost the entire world.

The biggest challenge

What the challenge of this diet seems to be, is taking meat (especially red meat) almost completely out of our lives. Both North-America and Europe would have to let go of all the red meat they consume.

The solution to red meat consumption could be rising taxes to make it more expensive, preventing people from being able to afford such foods. However, this might just not have positive consequences.

Christopher Snowdon from the Institute of Economic Affair, states that taxing food would be “the next battleground for the nanny state”.

In addition, South-East Asia would have to go on without fish, and Africa without starchy vegetables. This is not exactly an easy task to fulfill.

How the diet will help our planet

This “heroic” diet would be able to prevent 11 million deaths a year because both cardiac arrest and some types of cancer would be reduced. On the other hand, greenhouse gases would also decrease, because, as we have already stated before, a big portion comes from food production.

Food production is not the only threat for climate change

According to Frank M. Mitloehner, professor at the California University, meat production seems to be just as responsible for climate change as transport. This means, that even though fruits and vegetables contribute to a reduced emission on greenhouse gases, the fact that we still have to carry them from one place to another highly contributes to climate change.

So which is worse: excessively consuming meat or transport?

At the end, both are equally harmful.

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