Bridging the Gap



Think You’re Hungry? Could be Thirst.

Think You’re Hungry? Could be Thirst.

Did you know that many times when you eat because you “want something” you may actually be thirsty, not hungry?

Many people confuse the two sensations.  Most of the time thirst is confused for water, and they reach for food when they really should be reaching for water.  This can obviously lead to weight gain.  Clinical studies have shown that 37% of people mistake hunger for thirst because the thirst mechanism is so weak.

What’s interesting is that a person could safely fast including only water in their diet for several weeks without much harm coming to them, whereas, to remove water from the diet can lead to death within a week.  Yet, we frequently misunderstand the signals our bodies send us in regards to hunger and thirst.

There’s an interesting paper involving this subject here:  Hunger and Thirst: Issues in measurement and prediction of eating and drinking

Try This Experiment:

  • For 1 week, every time you think you are hungry, drink a glass of water first and wait 15 minutes.
  • Are you still hungry after 15 minutes?

This can be a great way to start to get to know your body better and start giving it the proper nourishment at the proper time.

This can really help with weightloss or at least the maintenance of your current weight as well.

I have no doubt that you’ll probably be surprised by the results of trying this out.


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