It is never a surprise to find yourself craving for the next meal or snack. Many people do have very healthy appetites all throughout the day. But, do you ever find yourself craving for food that is particularly sweet? Like, chocolate, candies, caramels and the like? Ah yes, a good number of people do enjoy a special appetite for sweets.

Now, don’t feel guilty. For most people, the association of sweets as a reward for a good day’s work has its roots to childhood rearing. Do you remember when your doctor offers you a lollipop in exchange for a well-behaved check-up with him? Or, do you recall your mom giving you an extra slice of cake after you’ve helped her tidy up the house? These little efforts of reward have slowly but steadily laid the foundation of your appetite for sweets during your adult years.

Nevertheless, just like almost everything in the world, there is a scientific explanation to this appetite for sweets. It was discovered by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, constant stress inflicted on lab rats initiated a natural desire to seek pleasing activities like eating sugary foods. To relate this to humans, sweet cravings may be triggered by tensions that consequently result in your body’s release of hormones called epinephrine and cortisol. These hormones create energy in the form of blood sugar. As a result, your body reacts to stress by increasing your appetite for sweets.

ALTHOUGH THERE IS REALLY NOTHING WRONG WITH AN OCCASIONAL SWEET TREAT, A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ITS DESIRE AND INDULGENCE WILL RESULT TO UNHEALTHY CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR BODY — LIKE UPSURGES IN BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL THAT LEADS TO UNWELCOME MOOD SWINGS AND, MORE EXCESSIVELY, TO TYPE 2 DIABETES.

HERE ARE A FEW SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO CURB THAT APPETITE FOR SWEETS:

-TRY TAKING AN AYURVEDIC HERB KNOWN AS GURMAR (GYMNEMA SYLVESTRE). THIS ‘DESTROYER OF SUGAR’ SLOWS DOWN THE ABSORPTION OF SUGAR INTO THE BLOOD VESSELS, THEREBY, STAVING YOUR APPETITE FOR SWEETS AS A RESULT.

-Take a serving of bitter foods like arugula, endive, radicchio or chicory. Chinese herbalists believe that bitter foods curbs appetite for sweets.

-Enjoy healthy servings of carefully selected fruits. Some fruits help keep blood sugar steady like berries, apples and pears. Stay away from excessive intake of pineapple and watermelon.

-Take a hike. When you are hit with the next sweet craving, distract yourself by taking a stroll until the craving passes.

Lastly, if your appetite for sweets has taken over your will power, ask for help. Behavioral therapy can help.

There is no better time clock than your own body. Have you noticed how efficient your body is at letting you know if it is time for breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner?

It must be understood, however, that people generally have two reasons for eating. The first is hunger and the second is appetite. Please note the emphasis that these two are not one and the same. Hunger is completely different from appetite.

Let’s take hunger first. Hunger is defined as the ‘need for food’. Your body lets you know that you are running low on fuel and that a meal is needed to help the body provide the necessary energy it requires to perform an activity. Hunger instinctively protects the body from depleting energy reserves.

Furthermore, hunger is a sensation produced by your body as a result of chemical changes in your body. When your body has reached a low level of glucose in the blood stream which is a natural fluctuation several hours after eating, the body reacts in terms of ‘hunger pangs’ to let you know that it is time to ingest food to regain the balance of glucose level in the blood.

Appetite, on the other hand, is defined as the ‘desire for food’.

Have you ever heard of the term ‘respondent conditioning’? A Russian physiologist named Iven Petrovich Pavlov who won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1904 coined this term. Through an experiment done with his dogs, Pavlov proved that a person can be trained to respond emotionally or physically to a thing or stimulus that is plainly reminiscent to them of something that they love or hate. In the experiment, Pavolv created the strong association of food and the sound of a ringing bell among his dogs. He proved that once the correlation is established, even an absence of food after the ringing of the bells still resulted to the dogs salivating in anticipation of the food.

In the same way, appetite may be explained as a conditioned response to food. Imagine seeing a sumptuous photograph of a juicy steak or smelling the smoky scent of barbecues on the grill. These stimuli easily result to salivation and a tingling sensation in the pit of your stomach that aggressively urges you to grab a bite. That is appetite.

They say a practical example of the difference between hunger and appetite is this. If you are hungry, you eat one hamburger. It is appetite that can trigger another order of a hamburger just because they look delicious or smell scrumptious.

Many Americans today suffer from obesity. Being obese means being extremely overweight. Dietitians quantify obesity as being more than 20% over the desired weight. This physical state should be seriously considered as it will lead to a broad spectrum of medical disorders like high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, gallstones, cancer, stroke, osteoarthritis, back pains, breathlessness, varicose veins and skin problems.

People become obese when they continually confuse appetite as hunger. Needing to eat to sustain healthy bodily functions is entirely different from ‘wanting’ to eat in order to satisfy a physiological craving. This craving may be triggered by several factors like unusual personal experiences, such as a new job, an upcoming exam, death in the family or a romantic break-up.

When left out of control, satisfying appetite cravings will naturally lead to weight gain. The extent of weight gain, of course, depends on the gravity of the person’s indulgence. It is the extreme uncontrolled appetite that will consequently lead to obesity.

Initial discomforts experienced by overweight people include breathlessness because of constriction of the diaphragm and increased workload of the heart. Skin problems, such as chafing and skin irritations between skin folds, is another one. In addition, overweight individuals may also experience back pain as their lower back takes on the pressure of the upper body because of the lack of abdominal muscle tone.

Over and above the discomforts listed above, there is the serious issue of deaths among the extremely obese. Mortality of obese patients is largely due to circulatory diseases.

Obesity among men and women normally result to significantly high blood pressure. This is a common cause of complications in bodily functions. High blood cholesterol is also evident among the severely overweight as a result of an excessive appetite for food types containing high levels of the unhealthy saturated fat. This type of fat is then transformed into cholesterol in the liver, therefore, causing an upsurge in cholesterol levels in the blood.

A higher risk of heart stroke is also noted among over-eaters. A stroke occurs when blood supply to the brain is hampered. Important to note is that a heart stroke normally occurs as a result of high levels of blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. So, as you can clearly see, there is a chain reaction that occurs as a result of uncontrolled appetite satiation.

So, if there three things you should remember after reading this material, it should be: Extreme appetites can kill. Learn to deal with hunger and appetite and listen to your body.

Let’s face it. Everybody enjoys eating. Whether it is during a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary or wedding, we all can find a million reasons to eat.

On a personal note, we all have peculiar appetites. Some have a specific appetite for sweets, some prefer savory foods. Other people have appetites for home-cooking, while others have acquired the appetite for eating out.

Taking a closer look into eating out, we can deduce that there are three basic disadvantages from the standpoint of a nutritionist. First, serving sizes are huge. Second, side dishes are too sinful. And, third, there are just too many courses to a meal — appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, main course, dessert and coffee.

Now, let’s not panic. There are some compromises that can be done in order to indulge in one’s appetite for eating out. Let us look at these possible concessions.

First of all, remember that the type of appetizer you choose will set the pace and quality of the rest of your meal. If you choose, say, a light salad and clear soup, for example, you may be allowed more food later on in the meal. But, if you choose a highly rich appetizer like pate de foie gras (literally: fat liver paste), the rest of the meal must be a nutritional combination of low-fat and low-calorie ingredients. So, be careful what you choose for the first course.

Next, consider an appetizer selection that is served generously off the menu as your main meal. Some casual dining restaurants offer large plate appetizers like stuffed mushrooms or baked mussels. You may want to consider substituting a main course meal with such appetizers instead.

Then, veer your attention to the bread. Let’s say you ordered the stuffed mushroom appetizer plate in place of your main dish. Taking this with bread may complete the main dish experience. However, it is suggested that you forego the butter and oil. Choose tasty low fat bread that will provide the flavor profile even without the added calories.

What about the vegetables? Well, not all vegetable dishes are considered healthy. With today’s commercial trend of smothering broccoli and asparagus with butter and cheese, even the most nutritious greens are compromised and are dropped from the preferred nutrition list. So, what do you do? Order vegetables ‘naked’. Skillful chefs will know how to utilize herbs and natural ingredients to highlight the vegetable flavors.

And, finally, enjoy your dessert with a friend. Share.

Let’s face it. Everybody enjoys eating. Whether it is during a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary or wedding, we all can find a million reasons to eat.

On a personal note, we all have peculiar appetites. Some have a specific appetite for sweets, some prefer savory foods. Other people have appetites for home-cooking, while others have acquired the appetite for eating out.

Taking a closer look into eating out, we can deduce that there are three basic disadvantages from the standpoint of a nutritionist. First, serving sizes are huge. Second, side dishes are too sinful. And, third, there are just too many courses to a meal — appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, main course, dessert and coffee.

Now, let’s not panic. There are some compromises that can be done in order to indulge in one’s appetite for eating out. Let us look at these possible concessions.

First of all, remember that the type of appetizer you choose will set the pace and quality of the rest of your meal. If you choose, say, a light salad and clear soup, for example, you may be allowed more food later on in the meal. But, if you choose a highly rich appetizer like pate de foie gras (literally: fat liver paste), the rest of the meal must be a nutritional combination of low-fat and low-calorie ingredients. So, be careful what you choose for the first course.

Next, consider an appetizer selection that is served generously off the menu as your main meal. Some casual dining restaurants offer large plate appetizers like stuffed mushrooms or baked mussels. You may want to consider substituting a main course meal with such appetizers instead.

Then, veer your attention to the bread. Let’s say you ordered the stuffed mushroom appetizer plate in place of your main dish. Taking this with bread may complete the main dish experience. However, it is suggested that you forego the butter and oil. Choose tasty low fat bread that will provide the flavor profile even without the added calories.

What about the vegetables? Well, not all vegetable dishes are considered healthy. With today’s commercial trend of smothering broccoli and asparagus with butter and cheese, even the most nutritious greens are compromised and are dropped from the preferred nutrition list. So, what do you do? Order vegetables ‘naked’. Skillful chefs will know how to utilize herbs and natural ingredients to highlight the vegetable flavors.

And, finally, enjoy your dessert with a friend. Share.

So, you see? There really is no need to deny your appetite to eat-out. Just learn to eat-out, wisely.

Have you ever noticed how your appetite can be directly affected by medicine intake? When was the last time you took a prescribed pill? Did you notice a decline or an increase in your appetite? Have you experienced weight gain while regularly taking an anti allergy antibiotic? Or have you noticed a less frequent craving for food while taking your blood pressure medication?

Indeed, increased or decreased appetite is a common side effect of many drugs. Although it is almost never mentioned by doctors, this behavior is certainly not unknown to many drug users.

No, the doctors are not keeping these side effects a secret. It would be safe to assume that this increase or decrease in appetite is not considered as a major side effect that need to be brought to the drug-takers attention. First of all, it is not life-threatening. Second, these side effects will disappear as soon as the medicine is no longer ingested. So, don’t feel betrayed by your family doctor. It’s a harmless side effect that is well worth the overall healing effect of the drug.

So, now you may ask, which drug types increase and which medicines decrease appetites? Based on a list of some medicines from The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs by James W. Long and James J. Rybacki, the following may decrease your appetite: diet pills, anticholesterol products, anticancer agents, antibiotics, antifungal agents. Anti-Parkinson drugs, antiseizure drugs and blood pressure medication.

Among those considered as appetite increasers are: tranquilizers or any calming drug, diuretics or chemicals that encourages increased kidney function causing more frequent urination, antihistamines or anti allergy pills and antidepressants or mood elevators.

Note, however, that the above list is only a general one. There may be some drugs categorized as an antidepressant, for example, but may still cause increased appetite. Some drugs fall outside of the general rules.

The consequential effects of certain medicines to appetite may be of some significance to certain individuals. However, it is encouraged that people look beyond these side effects, especially if the doctor properly prescribes the medicine. In all certainty, the drug is suggested to cure or prevent a physical or physiological state that is over and above the importance of appetite behavior.

It is, however, suggested that as the recipient of the drug, you must understand and be fully aware of ‘all’ side effects – including its impact on appetite. So, don’t be afraid to ask your doctor. By knowing what to expect, you are able to take the necessary actions and precautions set about by the drugs, enabling you to be in control of your appetite urges.