Why We Overeat
Could you actually be programmed toward overeating and obesity? That’s what some would say, everybody is always blaming their genetics. But the question is, is there actually some basis for this? Some would say yes. Newer theories suggest that some overeaters(because they are hungry, not emotional), could actually suffer from External Food Sensitivity, which ends up in feelings of hunger when they see certain foods, even if they just ate or are otherwise not hungry in real life.
Most say that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when hungry, because it makes everything look good and makes you buy more. But I suppose we all suffer from some degree of External Food Sensitivity. Most of us don’t overeat. But when we do see a food we really like, one of our favorites, most of us get a good feeling, think about the taste, think about the sensation in our mouths and our stomachs, essentially want to eat it, even if we’re not hungry. I’m not sure we feel the hunger pangs, but we do want it.
But I assume that the people who supposedly suffer from this disorder probably have more irresistible hunger pangs that actually cause them to eat instead of just thinking about it and how good it would be.
Another theory about why we overeat, society programs us to. In short, there are all you can eat buffets, super sized fast food meals, super sized restaurant meals, parents and other authority figures telling us to finish our meals as children, even though most children naturally stop eating when they are no longer hungry. We are encouraged to eat beyond our feelings of fullness, and eventually that stretches out the stomach, making it harder to actually get full. It could also be said that most of us don’t know what full feels like. We assume that satiation doesn’t happen until our stomachs are full, sore, and extended. But in many ways, the key is to understand your body’s signals, instead of relying purely on diet pills.