Today I listened to a very interesting podcast about the feeling of hunger. Two experts tried to explain what hunger is and answer some weird questions about the feeling of hunger.

According to the scientists who were guests on the programme, hunger is defined as the drive to consume in response to a biological need. In other words, our body tells us that we need food to replenish energy stores or to sustain bodily functions.

In some situations it is possible to forget the feeling of hunger, even if we do not respond to this feeling. For example, during prolonged fasting or in a food deprived situation, our body produces ketone bodies, which should suppress our appetite. There are also certain external factors that can influence our feelings of hunger.

You may forget to be hungry because you are distracted or busy. Scientists are also trying to answer the question of why we sometimes feel like eating, even when we are not hungry. Trying to answer this question, they told us that we have several appetite systems in our brain, one of which is the hedonic system. Even if we are not hungry, we may still want to eat because we have this pleasure system in the brain that overrides the feeling of fullness.