If you are trying to switch to a whole food way of eating but find yourself hungry all of the time, try adding a high-volume, low-calorie food called vegetables.
Hunger or food addiction?
Many times when you feel hungry, it’s not true hunger, it’s just your nervous system that’s in your digestive tract letting you know that it is not satisfied with the latest food inputs.
This is where vegetables can really shine. This is especially important if you are trying to overcome food addiction. Most of us have some level of food addiction.
If you think no way, I am in complete control of my food inputs, then stop eating your favorite regularly ingested food for a week or month and see how easy it is.
Vegetables are loaded with water and fiber. Both of which promote food satisfaction and a feeling of fullness.
However, more than the fiber or water content in vegetables, it is the eye appeal from a large volume of vegetables on a plate that makes a huge difference in promoting satisfaction.
One strategy, I recommend to people is to try using 10-inch plates instead of 12 or 14-inch plates to give the illusion of more food on the plate.
People will decrease their overall caloric intake by 10-30% per meal simply by using smaller plates and bowls. The same goes for loading your plate up with nutritionally dense, high-volume low-calorie foods.
Your eyes will see this mound of vegetables and will literally send signals to your being saying “wow this is going to be a lot of food, this is going to really feel us up.”
Colorful packaging or colorful vegetables?
So many people are consuming colorful boxes and bags of food but are missing out on the true life giving colors found in fruits and vegetables.
Why? Because the pigments in vegetable matter turn on genes that promote vigor, vitality, memory, apoptosis, slow angiogenesis (vital in mitigating cancer progression), and youthfulness of the endothelium (inner lining of blood vessels). They play a vital role in reducing brain stress and promoting the parasympathetic or relaxing and rejuvenating response of our central nervous system.
If you look at the Nootropics on the market, which are extracts designed to heightened cognitive function, they are virtually all derived from plants.
If your meals seem less than satisfying, or you have a family history of degenerative disease or you want to experience all of the benefits of health accumulation, be sure to add a handful or two of vegetables to your plate. Vegetables are a high-volume low-calorie food that can help achieve that feeling of fullness.
I do not advocate veganism or vegetarianism as it is excessively complex to get your body what it needs to thrive without some meat intake, however loading up your plate with vegetables is literally saying “hey body, I have your back, let’s maximize your potential”. If you need some help cutting out snacks and adopting a 2 or 3 meal eating plan, check out this post.