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Appetite and Hunger
Appetite is an emotional reaction to the
stimulus of an empty stomach, and hunger is the physical
response. When the stomach is empty, it is shrunken, and the
contracted muscles of its wall irritate the nerve endings,
causing the sensation of hunger. After eating, the walls of
the stomach are stretched and its nerves are soothed so that
one is no longer hungry. Any food that is ingested will
suffice to destroy hunger because of its mechanical action,
but appetite makes some foods more appealing than others.
Appetite is also a sensory response to the desire to repeat a
previously enjoyed experience. The sight, taste, smell, and
even the texture of foods in the mouth are all part of
remembered pleasurable experience and sometimes are the
stimuli that cause one to eat after hunger is appeased.
Loss of appetite usually accompanies illness. Therefore, the
amount and kind of food eaten as well as the amount of
vitamins, water
and other liquids taken by the patient should be recorded for
the doctor. Occasionally, sick people have strong cravings for
certain foods or will develop enormous appetite.
Children may have the desire to eat unusual things such as
dirt, plaster, paint, hair, or grass. This condition is called
Pica. This craving may be a physical response to supply some
body deficiency any event, it is a fairly serious abnormality
and should always be called to the attention of the doctor.
Continued loss of weight in either adults or children in the
absence of dieting is usually a sign that something is wrong.
It maybe caused by disease, disordered functions of the
internal organs, emotional tension, or an insufficient amount
or the wrong kind of food. A definite gain in weight may also
indicate a change in the physical condition. Because nearly
everyone loses weight in a severe illness, it is of special
importance that nourishing foods be provided the ill person to
protect the body from too great a weight loss.
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Bill Sjostrom
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