"Scientists can glean some insight into what happens to the gut during these big meals by extrapolating data from fasting research. Normally when people eat regular meals throughout the day, consuming food triggers a cascade of different hormones that signal hunger, aid digestion, manage blood sugar levels and cause satiety or fullness. It's a beautifully orchestrated system, says Janice Jin Hwang, chief of the division of endocrinology and metabolism at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine."
"True fasting, which many researchers define as 10 hours or more of not eating anything, causes shifts in that process. Hwang explains that the fasting body essentially prepares to take in more nutrients once you resume eating again: The gut may experience systemic painsbetter known as hunger pangs. Gastric muscle movements increase to help move and digest food faster. Brain circuits involved with desire and motivation for food become activated,"
Skipping breakfast or lunch to save room before a large Thanksgiving meal can be taxing on digestion. Regular meal patterns trigger hormonal cascades that signal hunger, aid digestion, regulate blood sugar and create satiety. True fasting, often defined as ten or more hours without food, alters those processes. Fasting increases hunger pangs, accelerates gastric muscle movements to move and digest food faster, and primes brain circuits linked to desire and motivation for food. These physiological shifts can worsen symptoms for people with gastrointestinal conditions and impair general digestion when followed by a massive, rich meal.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]