So your body's immune system attacks some of the food you eat, starch is one of the only sugars you immune system doesnt attack, but not all foods are attacked.
Secondly some foods increase inflammation, some reduce it, when inflammation occurs, you could compliment it with chemicals/supps that are needed for cell regeneration, things like choline will help here, which is a chemical found in the cell wall, or if you reduce inflammation with things like painkillers, then look at what the painkillers are doing ie P450 enzymes.
There's loads of chemical & biological pathways in the body and you need to map out what they all do. Studies like this are just a snapshot of part of process and ideally you would sometimes need two or three studies using chemicals at different amounts to get a better idea. Chemistry will also help give insights into the chemical pathways, like how fast a reaction might take, things like that.
> we're conditioned to feel hungry three times a day,
Ghrelin is like an alarm clock, to break that eat at random times of the day.
> compulsively, or out of sheer boredom.
Stress, look at antioxidants, maybe a fruit juice and some stomp/jog/run around the block or down the street and back.
Probably the easiest way to get fit is little regular blasts of exercise, but you'll look like a fool to your neighbours. Little and often until fitness levels get up to something substantial. Some banks/city firms provided a gym at work for traders to go and have a quick 5-10min blast/exercise until exhaustion before returning to the desk to carry on, it could be weights, rowing machines and running machines, but its enough to release the pent up energy. This is why working from home or a small business could be harmful to your health. A good company with desk based work would lay on gym equipment, you need a minimum amount of exercise.
Starting from a high fitness level, a week dedicated to all waking hours doing a variety of exercises, saw my fitness levels substantially increased, like better than military PT instructor level.
Caveat. I'm not qualified in anything. JMO.