BY Kurumi Fukushima
What if the type of food you're eating can alter brain function and promote overeating. That's right, certain foods can make you more hungry!
According to a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, certain types of meals can increase hunger. More specifically, they found that a high glycemic index (or high-carb) meal stimulated the reward and craving regions of the brain, and affects eating behavior at your next meal.
And it's not just the foods high in carbohydrates. Thanks to a phenomenon known as sensory specific satiety, you can fill up on a whole bag of potato chips and feel like only your salty stomach is full. That leaves you wanting to fill up your sugary stomach, your sour stomach, your spicy stomach... well, you get the picture.
So, we've come up with a list of 10 foods that make you hungrier and eat more!
10. Alcohol
Who doesn't love a nice glass of vino at the end of a long day. Be careful.
Whether it's after a tough day at work, or a long night of partying, drinking alcohol is known to give you the 'munchies.' According to research published in Alcohol & Alcoholism, just three servings can lower levels of leptin, a hormone designed to keep hunger at bay, by 30%.
Scientists have found that alcohol directly interferes with the appetite controls of the brain called the hypothalamus, triggering this part of the brain to make us crave high calorie food.
9. White Pasta
If you look at the serving size of pasta, chances are you'd be shocked. One serving is one-half cup of cooked pasta.
It's hard to get full from eating one-half cup of pasta, right? Restaurants regularly serve up about four cups in a single entrée -- thats's eight servings you're eating!
When you overload your body with simple carbs, your pancreas goes into overdrive churning out insulin. Too much insulin as you know, drops your blood sugar levels, making you super hungry.
8. MSG
Monosodium glutamate or MSG is in many processed foods. It's a flavor-enhancer.
You've probably heard of it if you eat Chinese food or canned soups and veggies. One animal study from Spanish researchers concluded that the chemical triggers a 40% increase in appetite and could be one of the key factors behind the problem of obesity, El Pais reported.
To make things worse, the effects can compound over time, so the more frequently you eat MSG, the more you'll eat!
7. Pastries
The white flour used to bake most of these delicious treats have been stripped of the bran, its outer shell, leaving you without the grain's feel-full fiber content. Eating it spikes your insulin levels as well. Add to that the sugary jelly, custard cream, and chocolate to make whatever pastry and you get a food that does not fill your stomach for too long.
6. French fries
A potato is a starch made up of simple carbohydrates, which means our body absorbs and metabolizes it very quickly because of their small molecular size. Therefore, it will most cause an insulin surge.
The insulin surge causes too much blood sugar to be transported out of our blood and this results in our blood sugar levels to fall. Since our blood sugar level can affect how hungry and how energetic we feel, a drop below normal levels leave us feeling tired and hungry and wanting to eat more.
It also makes us want to eat something else with a high sugar content -- which of course, starts the cycle all over again.
Add to that, the hydrogenated vegetable oil used to fry them plus the salt to top it off. Not healthy at all.
5. Pizza
Let's take a look at the making of a pizza pie. It's generally a combination of white flour dough, hydrogenated oils, processed cheeses, and preservatives that makes a delicious easy dinner for all. But, it's on this list for a reason. Those four ingredients can throw off your blood sugar levels, satiety hormone production, and hunger-regulating regions of your brain.
Stay away from those tempting dollar slices.
4. White bread
Similar to pastries, white bread is made of white flour, spiking your insulin levels. It is a high hypoglycemic index food, so it's digested quickly, leaving you hungry and maybe even eating more than you had planned to eat.
Opt for whole wheat bread which contains the bran to get that fiber, and keep you full for longer!
3. Juices
Let's think about how juices are made. The drink fools many people because it's made of fruits and vegetables which sounds healthy.
But in the juicing process you are removing all the fiber and are simply left with a sugary drink. Fiber is key to keeping you full. Just like choosing whole wheat bread instead of white bread, you might be better off by eating a whole fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
2. Kids' cereals
Or any other cereals with high sugar content and a low amount of dietary fiber. These unhealthy cereals will lead to a spike initially, then a crash in sugar levels.
And we've already told you what happens when your blood sugar levels are lower than normal...
1. Artificial sweeteners
Put down that yellow, pink, or blue colored packet of artificial sweetener. Every time you drink a diet soda that's artificially sweetened, or you put an artificial sweetener in your coffee, your brain expects the energy boost you would get from ordinary sugars. But when it doesn't get it, the body tries to make up for the lack of energy it's expecting, and creates hunger!
The artificial sweeteners can satisfy your taste buds for a moment, but can't fool the brain into producing dopamine, which is linked to a feeling of reward. Therefore, these sugar substitutes are not really substitutes, as artificial sweeteners make you more likely to binge on sugar later.
