✳️Claim 1: More Regular Meals Increase Your Metabolism — By eating several smaller meals every day you are increasing your metabolism more regularly. The truth is that the amount of energy you use when digesting food is directly related to the quantity of food to be digested. The net benefit of more regular meals in this instance is little.

✳️ Claim 2: Eating More Frequently Helps to Control Cravings — This is a far more practical claim, and one that is more readily accepted by many health experts. I’m always asked about “snacks” for me I don’t have “snacks” I eat mini meals. When I do this, by the time you start to crave a snack, it’s time for your next mini meal! Eating several smaller meals per day can be hugely beneficial in monitoring calorific intake.

✳️ Claim 3: Eating More Frequently Helps to Maintain Stable Blood Sugar Levels — This claim stops dead in its tracks when compared against actual science. The theory that blood sugar levels can be more accurately maintained by regular meals makes sense, but in practice it has little impact on most people. The science simply isn’t there to back it up.

So what do you do”

Yes, eat more frequently. Pay attention to YOUR body, to determine the number of meals that work best for you. Are you hungry, do you have cravings and how are your energy levels. All of these are clues telling you to change something.  At the end of the day, I want you to find a healthy lifestyle that works for you and you will stick to it. If it doesn’t, stick to what does work. It’s that simple!

The post Should You Eat Several Small Clean Meals Per Day’ appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

I’d like to share with you some sublte differences between the feelings of thirst and hunger
Tweet This

. Learn these and you won’t confuse the two ever again.

Listening to Your Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is the part of your brain that monitors and controls hunger and thirst. The next time you think you may be hungry, try drinking an 8 ounce glass of water. And then give your hypothalamus time (usually 15 minutes is plenty) to communicate to your body whether it is happy with your water treatment, or needs food.

After 15 minutes and  you still feel hungry, it is probably okay to go ahead and eat. Some of you may say what if my stomach starts to talk to me. A grumbling stomach could mean nothing at all, it could mean you are thirsty, or it might mean you are hungry. Learn to press the pause button before you put food in your mouth.

When Was The Last Time You Ate’

If it has been several hours, you may very well be hungry. That is where the “water test” mentioned above comes in handy. Believe it or not, we can go longer without food than water, so be sure to drink more often.

Another difference between thirst and hunger reveals itself if you continually eat and eat, but still feel like you have an empty stomach. Odds are, you need to get more liquids into your body.

If you believe that you may be hungry but you also have a headache and are feeling tired and fatigued, that is a physical sign that you are probably dehydrated.

Eating when you are thirsty, and drinking water when you are hungry, does not do your body much good
Tweet This

. By using the above tips to differentiate between the physical signs of hunger and thirst, and you will treat your body properly every time.

The post The Physical Differences Between the Feelings of Hunger and Thirst appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

If you have a tough time cutting back on unhealthy fat and sugar, it may be because of the way your brain reacts to certain foods.

Study – Fatty Foods and Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine

A US government study suggests that processed foods and sweet, sugary drinks and snacks actually cause a reaction in your brain that creates addiction. Nora Volkow is the Director at the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse. She says that there is overwhelming data which has identified fatty foods and sweet treats as having the addictive power of cocaine, nicotine and other drugs.

This is relatively new knowledge, not really known by scientists in the 1990’s. Previously, if someone could not cut back on unhealthy fats, sugar and fast foods, that person was said to have a will power problem. They simply were not trying hard enough.

But now we know that is not always the case. If you crave doughnuts, sweet sodas and sugar-packed candy bars, it may be because your brain circuitry rewards you with an explosion of “feel good” hormones and chemicals when you eat them.

No fewer than 28 scientific studies on food addiction were published in substantial medical and health journals in 2011 alone. And they all revealed similar findings. This is not good news if you are trying to limit fat and sugar.

Because now that the food manufacturers have been alerted to this knowledge, sugar, fat and high fructose corn syrup are going to find their way into more and more foods.

And while fats and sugars have always been in the human diet, modern processing has created a new level of addiction. Extremely concentrated sugars, unhealthy fats and refined flour with little fiber or nutrients are being found in addictive fast foods and sweet treats. So what was already a problem in your brain has become even more difficult to combat.

Fortunately,

you can rewire your brain to lessen the effects of sweet and fatty foods
Tweet This

. Slowly begin to limit the amount of high-fat, high-sugar foods and snacks you eat. Just remember that you have a natural tendency to crave these types of foods, since your brain will reward you with pleasure.

And remind yourself that too eating much fat and sugar can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular problems, stroke, heart attack, poor circulation and overweight. Cutting back is going to be difficult, but the health rewards are more than worthwhile.

Here’s also a great book that will help you understand this as well. Salt, Sugar and Fat. 

If you are looking to really understand hunger and hormones, join me for my webinar, click here to register 

The post Can Fatty Foods Be Addictive’ appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.