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Nourishing Connections: Controlling Your Biology versus Honoring Your Hunger

Reprinted from Health At Every Size Journal
By Karin Kratina
Winter 2004 Volume 18, Number 6
©2004 Gürze Books

Hunger is a powerful drive, that when met appropriately, results in a sense of satisfaction and comfort. Not meeting this need can be so uncomfortable that it is one of the most feared human experiences, cross-culturally. Nonetheless, millions of Americans brave hunger every day, because of our cultureÕs intense fear of fatness. Although research shows that trying to repress hunger wreaks havoc on our ability to naturally manage food intake and weight, experts continue to recommend hunger repression as a method of weight control. HAES offers an alternative to the repress-your- biologicalneeds dictum, which we will examine in this article. But first, let's look at the traditional recommendations for repressing hunger, exemplified in a quotation by leading obesity researcher, Jim Hill:

"The first thing is to realize that we must use our head to manage our weight. If we look at people who are not overweight, they rely not on their biology to manage their weight, but their brains—their intellect."1

The implication from this quote is that if you are thin you use your brain; if you are fat you do not. The overt prejudice implied in this comment aside, Hill's idea is not original. The idea that the body must be controlled by the mind dates back to the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, who believed the body was a burden and impediment to enlightenment. This belief has persisted for centuries. But it is only in recent decades that the idea that hunger should be repressed has taken hold of an entire culture.

Mind over matter
Experts tell us we can cut our food intake, lose weight, and not feel hungry, the ultimate in control! For example, Barbara Rolls, a leading researcher on appetite and obesity, wrote:

"Dieters everywhere have the same complaint: they're hungry all the time. Now this revolutionary book, based on sound scientific principles, can help you lose weight safely, effectively, and permanently without those gnawing pangs of hunger.

The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan [will help you] discover which foods, eaten under which circumstances, allow you to consume fewer calories and still be satisfied. And you'll get to know the hidden calorie traps, seemingly innocuous foods that can sneak unwanted calories into your body." 2

Volumetrics teaches that we should "cut calories and control hunger" (p. 74) and that we "can restrict calorie intake without feeling hungry" (p. 2). We learn specific techniques "useful in hunger control" (p. 64) and that we can "eat more food, feel full, and still reduce [our] total calorie intake." In other words, we can have our cake and eat it too. But, she warns, be ever on-guard:

• "Coffee ... is okay, but watch the calories from added milk."
• "If you ... can afford the calories, enjoy one in a small portion."

To help avoid these sneaky calories, another technique is offered: structuring our environment. This recommendation comes as no surprise when considering leading obesity researcher John Foreyt's comment, "If I had a bowl of chocolate chip cookies in front of me, I'd be nibbling on them now."3 Or a leading appetite researcher's comment, "I would never tire of chocolate."3 If the experts feel this out of control around food, what is the average person to do?

Volumetrics has an idea—trick the body into feeling satisfied by eating food with more volume— food with more air or water. Using more air is called "pumping up" your food. You eat less because food puffed up with air has more volume and is more satisfying than smaller, packed-down versions. For 90 calories, choose either four rice cakes or 1/2 cup of rice. More volume with the rice cakes equals more satisfaction. Rolls have more air than bagels and are therefore more satisfying. Grapes (100 calories per 11/3 cup) have more water than raisins (100 calories per 1/4 cup) and therefore have more volume—and more satisfaction.

This satisfaction, or satiety, is good because "the more satiety you feel after a meal, the less you will eat at the next one." (Apparently, this way of eating will help you consume less at the current meal, as well as at the next one!) We learn that satiety is about controlling your hunger.

Ultimately, Volumetrics notes that, "By making it easier to cut calories, this approach makes it easier to reduce the volume that's most troublesome: your own."2 We learn that it is OUR volume that is a problem. We learn that these tricks are necessary because "our biology, our instincts, pushes us to overeat and be sedentary."1 OUR biology is a problem.

A matter of trust
The lack of trust inherent in the "control your biology" approach is palpable. So is the fear of what the body will do if left to its own devices. No wonder our society believes we must control, ignore, and/or eliminate hunger. Fortunately, not all experts believe this control is necessary. In fact, growing numbers of professionals argue that all this repression and control is counterproductive. According to Michelle Stacey, author of Consumed: Why Americans Love, Hate and Fear Food:

"This way of looking at food, coldly, with distance and distrust becomes self-perpetuating. Our current situation is not going to lead to furthering the enjoyment and experience of food. And that's a real problem, because the experience and enjoyment of food brings you more self-awareness, and self-awareness will bring self-control."4

Stacey argues that self-control can arise naturally when we truly enjoy and experience food.4 According to many experts, the first place to start is to "honor your biology." "Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food"5—trust that we are capable of managing our hungers and weight without external controls. From the authors of Eating Problems, we learn that "hunger is the only reliable personal guide to feeding oneself with integrity," and that "hunger and satiation are the guides to natural body weight."6 In other words, the body is capable of taking care of itself.

Honoring your biology is accomplished with an internally-regulated, non-restrained eating style that is exemplified in Tenet 3 of HAES. We are born with the ability to eat this way. Babies self-regulate food intake. They eat when hungry and stop when full, resulting in adequate nutrition for their growth needs. Adults, too, can self-regulate food intake. However, this innate ability is drowned out by the external "controls" of "that's a bad food," "eat all your dinner before dessert," or "if you eat rice cakes, you will be more satisfied." In time, these external signals influence almost all decision-making around food.

Significant problems result when we try to "control biology." When you ignore hunger signals, they become more difficult to discern. Eventually, you can only "hear" hunger when it is extreme. This extreme hunger often triggers overeating. And even worse, the more you ignore hunger, the more difficult it becomes to identify the gentle sensations of fullness. All this culminates in your not believing you can be trusted with food, which leads you right back to buying another program or book that promises more control through restriction of food intake.

Tricking your body into feeling satisfied does not work. Consider "air food." The authors of Intuitive Eating argue that if you rely on "air foods" ("food that fills up the stomach but offers little sustenance") to make you feel full, you may find yourself unsatisfied and "on the prowl for something more substantial."5 Or you may end up eating large amounts of air food and still be unsatisfied. This is because satisfaction is not necessarily the result of eating large volumes of low calorie foods. What is missing? Self-awareness and trust!

According to Intuitive Eating, "satisfaction is derived when you take the time to figure out what you really want to eat, give yourself unconditional permission to eat it, then eat it in a relaxing, enjoyable atmosphere."5

Creating this experience will initially take more time and effort than is needed to follow diet rules because it means getting in touch with yourself and your needs. Satisfaction results, in part, from knowing when you are hungry and eating in response to that hunger. There is an added benefit! Satisfaction makes it easier to quit eating when full! Eating past comfortable fullness becomes pointlessÑthe food no longer tastes good and hunger is gone.

This makes sense. The primary purpose of hunger is to send a signal that the body needs to eat. The goal of eating is to relieve hunger. If you are not in touch with hunger, or aware of how hungry you are, how will you know how much to eat and/or when to stop eating?

Honoring your hunger means paying attention to hunger levels. "If you're over hungry, your biological need for energy supersedes your ability to eat slowly and taste what's before you. Likewise, if you begin to eat when you aren't really hungry, it can be difficult to decide whether what you're eating is really what you want and whether it's satisfying."5

When you honor and trust your hunger, satisfaction is no longer about controlling food intake. Satisfaction is a goal in and of itself. The authors of Eating Problems give a much different definition of satiety than the author of Volumetrics did:

"Satiation signals the completion of a feeding experience. It is a physical, emotional, and subjective sense of comfort, satisfaction, and well-being, of a need appropriately met. Satiation is self-care at its most refined; it requires the ability to discern and appropriately label bodily communications, and ultimately concerns trusting and accepting them." 6

Honoring your biology and eating according to the body's signals of hunger and satiety are examples of self-care at its highest refinement. When you take care of hunger, hunger takes care of you.

Control your biology or honor your hunger? You decide!

References
1. Hill J. From instinct to intellect: maintaining a healthy weight in today's world. 2004 SCAN Symposium presentations. SCANs PULSE. 2004;3:7-8.

2. Rolls BJ, Barnett RA. The volumetrics weight control plan: feel full on fewer calories. New York: Harper- Collins Publishers; 2000.

3. Stern JS, Brownell KD, et al. Current perspectives in the treatment of obesity. American Dietetic Association's 1994 Annual Meeting.

4. Stacey M. Consumed: why American's love, hate and fear food. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1994.

5. Tribole E, Resch E. Intuitive eating: a recovery book for the chronic dieter. New York: St. Martin's Press; 1995.

6. Bloom C, Gitter A, et al. Eating problems: a feminist psychoanalytic treatment model. New York: Basic Books; 1994.

Additional Resources:

Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program Offers Flexibility, Individual Attention
Involuntary Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders
Live Large
Making Up for Lost Time: Resuming the Path to Maturity After an Eating Disorder
Males and Eating Disorders