Unpleasant, distracting from thoughts and essential things – a feeling of hunger. It can be called a kind of driving force that makes people eat. It is what contributes to the production of nutrients by our body. It turns out that people have insufficient information and the hunger is different. After reading Nine Hungers, I learned that there are several types of hunger, and this information surprised me. This essay aims to consider other types of hunger and what kind of hunger I experienced.
The most surprising for me was that a person can feel mouth and ear hunger. I thought about my hunger and realized that I sometimes experience it associated with the desire to taste a particular dish with the taste buds. This is what sometimes excites my appetite, and I want to eat a specific dish. It is not difficult to satisfy such a desire since buying the necessary ingredients and preparing favorite food is elementary. In addition, there are many cafes and restaurants where people can order any dish.
Sometimes, in addition to satisfying the hunger associated with food, I experience a hunger associated with the mind. This type of fasting is one of the most difficult to satisfy since it is not physical but moral. Ombrato and Phillips (2021) state that when we are hungry, our attention is attracted by a sense of scarcity. In terms of mental hunger, people may lack visual enjoyment or calm and it is necessary to organize their thoughts.
I experience mental hunger quite often, but it can sometimes be challenging to satisfy it. Visiting a museum or watching educational films can help, but current exhibitions or movies released in cinemas are not always suitable. Peace of mind is also not easy to create since many people tend to worry about their future and present. In this regard, simple meditation or temporary removal from people does not help to satisfy mind hunger.
Nevertheless, I was able to satisfy my mental hunger by watching several informative videos on YouTube. I felt that I had received a lot of new data that allowed me to digress myself from everyday tasks, get further exciting information and satisfy my mental hunger. In the future, I plan to continue to get such “food” for the mind from videos, films, exhibitions, and books.
Physical hunger can be indicated by general poor health, such as fatigue, irritability, and an unpleasant feeling of emptiness in the stomach. Eating affects the functioning of the intestines and brain, which control and influence the feeling of hunger and appetite (Amin and Mercer, 2016). If there is a feeling of hunger, a person can try to drink some water, and if the feeling of hunger has not passed, then it is necessary to satisfy it. In this case, it can be considered a conscious and not a common desire to eat something. To satisfy the conscious sense of hunger, it is necessary to listen to the brain’s signals. Hurtado (2018) recommends trying to differentiate the type of hunger, eating only with real physical hunger and eating slowly in small portions. These recommendations will allow people to eat consciously and not overeat.
In conclusion, there are many different types of hunger that some people do not even know about. In order to satisfy real physical hunger, people need to study the existing types of hunger and eat consciously. In addition, it is necessary for people to learn how to meet each kind of hunger to feel good and be in harmony with themselves. I have studied myself, and now I know how to work on my mental, physical and other types of hunger strikes.
References
Amin, T. & Mercer, J. (2016). Hunger and satiety mechanisms and their potential exploitation in the regulation of food intake. Current Obesity Reports, 5(1), 106-112.
Hurtado, M. (2018). Mind Hunger: Does it help me take care of myself or not? Mindful Eating.
Ombrato, M. & Phillips, E. (2021). The Mind of the Hungry Agent: Hunger, Affect and Appetite. Topoi, 40(1), 517-526.