Does increased hunger = increased metabolism?

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I came to this ray peat forum about a year ago, with a pretty low appetite. In general I tend to have a low appetite and can get by on very little food. i've never really worried about it until I started having energy issues, and then realized that this could be part of the cause.

Now more recently, after having received an "official" diagnoses of hpa axis dysfunction after blood/saliva lab tests (more specifically an overreactive stress response system that leads to a cycle of high stress/adrenaline energy > crashes) one of the things my doctor prescribed to me for healing is "you must eat every 3 hours" - since the goal is to calm the stress response system, and going without food can be seen as a stressor to the body.

Since i've been more or less doing that, i've noticed that i'm getting more hungry more often. i feel my stomach growling way more frequently (my indicator of when i'm truly hungry) than it did before.

i'm wondering if that's a sign of my metabolism raising? Seems like it would be.
 
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I came to this ray peat forum about a year ago, with a pretty low appetite. In general I tend to have a low appetite and can get by on very little food. i've never really worried about it until I started having energy issues, and then realized that this could be part of the cause.

Now more recently, after having received an "official" diagnoses of hpa axis dysfunction after blood/saliva lab tests (more specifically an overreactive stress response system that leads to a cycle of high stress/adrenaline energy > crashes) one of the things my doctor prescribed to me for healing is "you must eat every 3 hours" - since the goal is to calm the stress response system, and going without food can be seen as a stressor to the body.

Since i've been more or less doing that, i've noticed that i'm getting more hungry more often. i feel my stomach growling way more frequently (my indicator of when i'm truly hungry) than it did before.

i'm wondering if that's a sign of my metabolism raising? Seems like it would be.
I think is a good sign of high metabolism if it is true hunger and not cravings. The more you eat the more nutrition you can get. Think of old people that just really eat meagerly and get slower and slower.
 
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wealthofwisdom
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I think is a good sign of high metabolism if it is true hunger and not cravings. The more you eat the more nutrition you can get. Think of old people that just really eat meagerly and get slower and slower.
It's definitely true hunger. I don't really get cravings that much...Except for very rarely, and when I do it tends to be something I really need. Or at least that's what I believe.
 
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It's definitely true hunger. I don't really get cravings that much...Except for very rarely, and when I do it tends to be something I really need. Or at least that's what I believe.
As CO2 retainer mentioned, higher temps are a good sign too.
 
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Yeah, I should get around to doing that.
Oh I don't take my temperature. I wear shorts and flip flops in the winter and I am perfectly fine. I don't get hot in the summer and I don't get get cold in the winter. When your body self regulates like that it is a good sign. Don't focus too much on the details, just follow your lead, as long as your food quality is high.
 
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equipoise

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Hunger depends on so many factors, my work colleagues are fat and old and they're quite hungry all the time, wanting to snack something.
You give em a plate of minced meat and potatoes and they can't eat much. I guess strong appetite of solid, nutritious food is good.
 
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Hunger depends on so many factors, my work colleagues are fat and old and they're quite hungry all the time, wanting to snack something.
You give em a plate of minced meat and potatoes and they can't eat much. I guess strong appetite of solid, nutritious food is good.
That sounds like my dad! He has gotten fat and will only pick at a meal, but is constantly rummaging around for snacks. That is the kind of hunger i was saying is bad, the craving driven hunger.
 

SamuraiJack

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That sounds like my dad! He has gotten fat and will only pick at a meal, but is constantly rummaging around for snacks. That is the kind of hunger i was saying is bad, the craving driven hunger.
I've had the exact same issue for a while and in my case it's a sugar/junk food craving. I did 2 things to clear this.
Soak in magnesium chloride (mg oil) and use glutamine.
A deficiency in these will surely increase sugar cravings. Soon as I upped these, cravings all gone! I've been under some stress lately. That must have used up my reserves.
 
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I've had the exact same issue for a while and in my case it's a sugar/junk food craving. I did 2 things to clear this.
Soak in magnesium chloride (mg oil) and use glutamine.
A deficiency in these will surely increase sugar cravings. Soon as I upped these, cravings all gone! I've been under some stress lately. That must have used up my reserves.
I have no health issues and if I start the day eating a starchy carb I crave them the rest of the day. My dad just wakes up and goes straight for it again and again. Funny when he was on Atkins he raved of his energy and lack of cravings, so he knows the difference. I think starch cravings and sugar cravings are a bit different.
 
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I have no health issues and if I start the day eating a starchy carb I crave them the rest of the day. My dad just wakes up and goes straight for it again and again. Funny when he was on Atkins he raved of his energy and lack of cravings, so he knows the difference. I think starch cravings and sugar cravings are a bit different.
I think sugar cravings is your body needing it and starch cravings are your body wanting it.
 

Jerkboy

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Hunger is a good sign from my experience. I have crashed my metabolism a few times and hunger completely disappears. Together with constipation. When my metabolism increases, so does my hunger.
 
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Hunger is a good sign from my experience. I have crashed my metabolism a few times and hunger completely disappears. Together with constipation. When my metabolism increases, so does my hunger.
When I was heavy on starches I would get nausea and a headache from hunger going for a long period between meals. Since keeping starches away I can get hungry, but not in a sickly way and go all day without eating if need be. A bunch of us were cleaning out my dad's hoard in the California desert summer heat and at dinnertime everyone would be crabby hungry while I felt great, and they are all younger than me by many years. Was I hungry too? Yes, but not upset about it.
 

yerrag

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Now more recently, after having received an "official" diagnoses of hpa axis dysfunction after blood/saliva lab tests (more specifically an overreactive stress response system that leads to a cycle of high stress/adrenaline energy > crashes) one of the things my doctor prescribed to me for healing is "you must eat every 3 hours" - since the goal is to calm the stress response system, and going without food can be seen as a stressor to the body.
I think I'm the only one that disdains such kind of analyses. It's like driving and not feeling the rubber on the road. In place of thinking in terms of cause and effect, one is made to think in more abstract terms that leaves him clueless and unable to take proper corrective action, but makes him rely on an expert because he doesn't understand what the expert is talking about. It's like asking why milk doesn't taste sweet, and a quantum physicist explains to you electrons spinning in probabilistic terms.

The prescription "you must eat every 3 hours" is typical. But you don't get better really. You are just managing a bad condition. You're not really improving your state to where you can have steady blood sugar that you don't feel hungry even fasting for a day because your body fills in with its supply of sugar when you've not eaten for a while.

I'm just glad he didn't send in a nun to pray over you. That might work better- by a tad.

I came to this ray peat forum about a year ago, with a pretty low appetite. In general I tend to have a low appetite and can get by on very little food. i've never really worried about it until I started having energy issues, and then realized that this could be part of the cause.
Since i've been more or less doing that, i've noticed that i'm getting more hungry more often. i feel my stomach growling way more frequently (my indicator of when i'm truly hungry) than it did before.

i'm wondering if that's a sign of my metabolism raising? Seems like it would be.
Having a low appetite means many things. When sick, appetite goes away for the body to concentrate on healing as digestion uses a lot of energy. But when you are always low on appetite, you may not be "fever" sick, but there is something chronically in imbalance. The first thing that comes to my mind is that you're in a protective inhibitory mode. That is alright if you're old and your body's organs are a small percentage of youthful capacity. But since you're not that old, it may just mean your body has adapted to a state of low metabolism. You're not producing much energy, and you're not using up much energy from food.

So, if you're starting to feel hunger more, that may be a good sign, coming from where you are. See this as a good sign and load up. Do you know what you did to become more hungry?

It would be good to check your metabolic state from time to time. Monitor your temperature waking up and at 5 pm, where temps are typically the lowest and the highest respectively. And take your temperature with the right tool for it. Most people have the regular digital thermometer for use orally and in the armpit. Most use the armpit. Armpit is 0.5 C lower than the real body temperature. And when using the digital thermometer, play deaf to the 1 minute beep so you can keep the thermometer in place for 12 minutes - to ensure the thermometer gives you the right temperature (the time varies from make to make, but the worst ones take 12 minutes).

Next is about Ray Peat's advice to use the heart rate - the higher heart rate, the higher the metabolism. But I've found it doesn't apply to me. I instead use an oximeter that measures also the perfusion index (PI). I found it to be more useful.

Lastly, to keep things simple as well as a bit more complicated (at the start), I use the Achilles Tendon Reflex Test to test whether I'm hypothyroid or not. To get an idea of how it's done, search for it on Youtube. It isn't rocket science, but it takes some push from the inertia of relying on blood tests for everything. And you need to ask someone to help you perform it. So, patience is needed on learning how to do it correctly. If one can learn to read and write, one can more easily learn to do this test. Once you learn it, you can use this test regularly to monitor your progress going from a hypothyroid to a euthyroid state, without the need to spend on doctors to wrongly interpret the state of your thyroid for you. Thinking you're not hypothyroid when you are has major health consequences that nothing else you do would amount to much of anything, and would get you stuck in a rut.

There are more tests you can do outside of the mainstream, but I'll just stop here.

The point here is that you have to know your true state to know where you can improve on.
 

gaze

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When I was heavy on starches I would get nausea and a headache from hunger going for a long period between meals. Since keeping starches away I can get hungry, but not in a sickly way and go all day without eating if need be. A bunch of us were cleaning out my dad's hoard in the California desert summer heat and at dinnertime everyone would be crabby hungry while I felt great, and they are all younger than me by many years. Was I hungry too? Yes, but not upset about it.
do you supplement thyroid? i notice people who succeed at no starch usually take thyroid, while those who can't satiate without starch usually aren't on thyroid. i personally found when my t3 was really low, no matter how much Oj or milk i drink, there was a pit of hunger that wouldn't get satiate and eventually the liquid made me feel sick. however a fairly big meal with rice, butter, meat, i can eat triple the calories of milk/OJ in one sitting and be satiated. the liquid aspect of no starch is highly limiting in satiation for me. however when my t3 is higher and i take vitamin d and have better thyroid, i can survive on no starch without hunger pangs
 

aliml

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Autonomic dysfunction can trigger increased levels of hunger resulting in the over-consumption of nutrients and calories.
 

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