My experience is that certain foods make me want to eat even when I’m full, while other foods don’t.
I can stuff my face with highly nutritious foods (non-starchy vegetables) as well as not-so-nutritious foods (ground beef) without feeling out of control. When I decide I’m full, I stop eating, and can sit with leftovers in front of me while I chat with friends without a single desire to eat more.
On the other hand, there are nutritious foods (some fruits) as well as nutritionally empty foods (bread, pasta) that I will gladly eat even as my stomach feels like bursting. The only way for me to stop eating is to physically separate myself from the food.
The most likely theory, in my mind, is that carbs stimulate appetite, whereas protein and fiber don’t. The only thing that doesn’t fit that theory, in my experience, is nuts. When I have a bag of nuts in front of me I’ll usually eat them until I’m sick, despite a low carb profile.
The obvious pattern is that foods that are primarily carbohydrates are attractive no matter what your hunger, whereas foods that are primarily non-carbohydrates are only attractive if you’re hungry. The obvious question is what happens with foods that are an inseparable, roughly equal mixture of the two. What happens with yogurt? Milk chocolate? Cheesecake? Ice cream? French toast?
That list was surprisingly difficult to come up with. I was also surprised that everything I could think of was a dairy product, until I tried to come up with a ridiculous example of a non-dairy product fitting the criterion. (My thought process: oil mixed with sugar? No, that wouldn’t fly. How about bread… soaked in… eggs! French toast!)
ETA: I’ve finally thought of a vegan food fitting the criterion: hummus. Which is not a stand-alone food. Gaah.
This matches my observation—to the point where if I’m eating out and get a hamburger, I have no problem putting the burger itself down when I’m full, but feel compelled to keep picking at the bun itself until it’s removed. I also experience the same can’t-stop situation with nuts.
I’m the same way. Depending on my hunger level, I’ll eat the meat out from between the last bit of bread and stop.
However, part of this might be due to not liking hamburger buns as a bread (too sweet?). I don’t tend to leave the last bit of bread when it’s a fresh piece of french bread, though I still wouldn’t pick at the bread when I’m done eating the sandwich.
Are you another one that would eat the filet mignon instead of desert?
Same experience with the hamburger. I think this is where the “There’s always room for dessert” idea comes from. Even when full the body is willing to take in more sugar. How many people would opt for dessert if what was offered was not something sweet but an equivalent-in-weight filet mignon?
Most people probably wouldn’t, but I’d eat the steak.
I haven’t liked sweets much ever since I overate a few times on sugary food/drink when hungry from maintaining an artificially low weight. I’m not sure if that actually caused it, or if my tastes just changed as I grew up, but it does feel very similar to the disgust one gets when thinking about food from a place that gave him food poisoning.
My experience is that certain foods make me want to eat even when I’m full, while other foods don’t.
I can stuff my face with highly nutritious foods (non-starchy vegetables) as well as not-so-nutritious foods (ground beef) without feeling out of control. When I decide I’m full, I stop eating, and can sit with leftovers in front of me while I chat with friends without a single desire to eat more.
On the other hand, there are nutritious foods (some fruits) as well as nutritionally empty foods (bread, pasta) that I will gladly eat even as my stomach feels like bursting. The only way for me to stop eating is to physically separate myself from the food.
The most likely theory, in my mind, is that carbs stimulate appetite, whereas protein and fiber don’t. The only thing that doesn’t fit that theory, in my experience, is nuts. When I have a bag of nuts in front of me I’ll usually eat them until I’m sick, despite a low carb profile.
The obvious pattern is that foods that are primarily carbohydrates are attractive no matter what your hunger, whereas foods that are primarily non-carbohydrates are only attractive if you’re hungry. The obvious question is what happens with foods that are an inseparable, roughly equal mixture of the two. What happens with yogurt? Milk chocolate? Cheesecake? Ice cream? French toast?
That list was surprisingly difficult to come up with. I was also surprised that everything I could think of was a dairy product, until I tried to come up with a ridiculous example of a non-dairy product fitting the criterion. (My thought process: oil mixed with sugar? No, that wouldn’t fly. How about bread… soaked in… eggs! French toast!)
ETA: I’ve finally thought of a vegan food fitting the criterion: hummus. Which is not a stand-alone food. Gaah.
This matches my observation—to the point where if I’m eating out and get a hamburger, I have no problem putting the burger itself down when I’m full, but feel compelled to keep picking at the bun itself until it’s removed. I also experience the same can’t-stop situation with nuts.
Opposite for me; I would eat the hamburger but not the bun. But that may be just because I like hamburgers.
I’m the same way. Depending on my hunger level, I’ll eat the meat out from between the last bit of bread and stop.
However, part of this might be due to not liking hamburger buns as a bread (too sweet?). I don’t tend to leave the last bit of bread when it’s a fresh piece of french bread, though I still wouldn’t pick at the bread when I’m done eating the sandwich.
Are you another one that would eat the filet mignon instead of desert?
Yes.
Thirding nuts: even chocolate with nuts I find harder to stop eating than plain chocolate.
Same experience with the hamburger. I think this is where the “There’s always room for dessert” idea comes from. Even when full the body is willing to take in more sugar. How many people would opt for dessert if what was offered was not something sweet but an equivalent-in-weight filet mignon?
Most people probably wouldn’t, but I’d eat the steak.
I haven’t liked sweets much ever since I overate a few times on sugary food/drink when hungry from maintaining an artificially low weight. I’m not sure if that actually caused it, or if my tastes just changed as I grew up, but it does feel very similar to the disgust one gets when thinking about food from a place that gave him food poisoning.