Potential controversial opinion but what could really be wrong with: “When you’re hungry eat, when you’re thirsty, drink”.
Sorry but they just seem like such automatic functions I don’t see how it needs to be complicated any further.
Sorry but they just seem like such automatic functions I don’t see how it needs to be complicated any further.
To the point of not being able to sleep for a good part of 2018 due to severe pain, I couldn't lie down in any position or my body would ache terribly. It only got fixed after my wife asked me how much water I drink during the day, I had to think about it and my response was baffling even to me "ehr... one glass?". The sleep issues went away after a couple of days drinking more water.
That's how I got really fat.
The pop science consensus has been that the human evolved for a world of food scarcity, and when confronted with an unlimited supply of food, that system breaks down. That seems pretty plausible to me, looking at global obesity rates.
In my opinion it works with food for almost all people and with fluids for many. I also drink more than enough just be drinking when I am thirsty. Some friends and also commenters here mention that their thirst doesn't work as well. So key is to know whether you can rely on your thirst.
Babies who have stomach trouble sometimes over-eat because they mistake stomach pain for hunger.
So instinct/reactions aren't failsafe. Especially when we've loaded our diet with addicting things.
Anecdotally, often my thirst is disguised as looking for something to snack on that will cause me to salivate, like chocolate.
When I make a conscious decision to have a big glass of water or two, the craving goes away.
I can only speak for myself, and find it really challenging to reliably evaluate my hungriness/thirstiness. If I can get hungry just by looking at food, or if I end up eating way too much because I've thought I was hungry (I wasn't!), then how on Earth can I possibly rely on such elusive indicators?
If you have to get that far, are you certain to do the best job for your health?
People forget to hydrate all the time, and can ignore their thirsty signals, or even not feel thirsty...