Endless Craving

3 months ago By Yogi Anoop

Why Do We Feel Like Eating Again Even After a Meal?

We often feel the urge to eat something even after having a meal. This is a common experience, but understanding the psychological and physiological processes behind it reveals the real reason.

When we eat, the body receives a signal that the stomach is full, which makes us feel physically satisfied. However, the mind’s satisfaction doesn’t come merely from a full stomach. The mind’s contentment comes from the experience of eating, especially the taste and the way the food is savored.

Let’s understand this more deeply. Imagine a mother feeding her child while the child is asleep. The child eats in its sleep, the stomach gets full, but the child cannot fully experience the taste, smell, or the act of eating. As a result, the mind doesn’t feel satisfied. The same thing happens with adults. We may eat, but we do not fully experience the process, especially when we are in a rush or when our attention is distracted.

This whole experience depends on how long we can savor the taste of the food. Often, while eating, our attention is diverted – we might be watching TV, talking to someone, or our mind is preoccupied with different thoughts. This causes us to fail in extending the span of the experience of taste. If the span of taste experience is extended, the mind will fully register and store that taste.

The human brain only deeply stores the taste and experience of food when the length of that experience is prolonged. If the span of the experience is longer, the mind feels completely satisfied even with a smaller amount of food. In fact, the subconscious starts receiving signals of fullness even before the stomach is physically full. This all depends on the length of the taste experience, i.e., the span of the experience. This experience satisfies not only the mind but also the subconscious and the stomach for several hours.

Another example can clarify this. In a crowded place, you are likely to remember the face of a person with whom you had an argument. This happens because your senses and mind concentrated on that person for a longer time. On the other hand, even though you see many other faces in the same place, you do not remember them because your mind wasn’t focused on them for an extended period.

Similarly, the experience of tasting food is just like this. If we fully focus on the taste of food while eating and maintain that experience for a longer time (a few minutes), our mind feels satisfied. This satisfaction gives us a sense of fullness both during and after the meal. However, if the taste of food is only briefly experienced, and our attention gets distracted in between, the mind does not feel fully satisfied.

As a result, even though our stomach is full, the mind remains incomplete, and this incompleteness leads to the urge to eat something again and again. The mind craves that taste and experience again; it is not concerned with whether the stomach is full. It only cares about its own satisfaction. Until the mind feels satisfied, it will keep demanding something sweet or sour to eat.

In conclusion, eating should not only be about filling the stomach, but about fully savoring the taste and experience of the food. It is crucial to pay attention to the length and duration of the taste experience.

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