When you're hungry, you often want to grab food and eat it the moment you see it. However, eating so indiscriminately is actually silently damaging your health. Some foods that seem to quickly satisfy hunger are often the ones you should avoid eating.
Causes of Hunger
Hunger is often caused by a lack of oxygen, energy, or nutrients, which generally means a lack of energy. When a person is hungry, muscle breakdown is enhanced, fat breakdown is accelerated, and the body's use of glucose by tissues decreases. At this time, we need to supplement with foods that are relatively high in glucose.
Not all foods containing glucose can be eaten when we are hungry
Let's take a look at which foods and why they shouldn't be eaten casually:
1. Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are called different things in different places; they are sometimes called yams, groundnuts, or sweet potatoes. Because they are rich in protein, starch, pectin, cellulose, amino acids, vitamins, and various minerals, they can quickly provide energy and relieve hunger. However, sweet potatoes also contain tannins and gums, which can cause the stomach wall to produce more gastric acid, leading to discomfort such as heartburn and stomach pain. Especially for people who usually have an upset stomach, do not eat sweet potatoes when you are hungry.
2. Persimmons and Tomatoes
Persimmons and tomatoes are rich in pectin and tannic acid, which can undergo a series of chemical reactions with the gastric acid produced by the stomach wall, forming a gel-like substance that is difficult to dissolve. Over time, this can easily lead to the formation of stomach stones.
3. Candy
Candy is a snack with white sugar and corn syrup as its main ingredients. Chocolate and gum are types of candy. The components in sugar can quickly relieve symptoms of low energy when hungry, but we rarely feel full, which leads us to keep eating them in large quantities. Over time, this can lead to excessive sugar intake and cause other physiological diseases.
4. Yogurt
When the stomach is empty, the pH value of gastric juice is below 2, which is acidic and not suitable for the growth of lactic acid bacteria in yogurt, which weakens its health benefits. Only when the pH value is between 3-5, which is about two hours after a meal, or before going to bed at night, can drinking yogurt promote digestion, nourish and calm the mind, and make passing gas and bowel movements smoother.
5. Soy Milk
Soy milk contains a lot of protein, which can quickly replenish energy. However, when you are in a state of hunger, protein cannot actually be absorbed and can easily cause bloating. We can pair it with foods containing flour, such as biscuits or pastries, to promote protein absorption.
6. Tea
Tea contains components such as catechins, cholestenone, caffeine, and inositol. A timely and healthy way of drinking tea can improve human health. However, drinking tea on an empty stomach can easily dilute gastric juice, greatly reducing digestive function and causing symptoms similar to drunkenness, such as palpitations, dizziness, headache, and unsteady standing!
7. Baijiu (Chinese white spirit)
Drinking baijiu on an empty stomach can irritate the gastric mucosa due to its alcohol content, which can lead to diseases such as gastric ulcers and gastritis over time. Also, when a person is hungry, their blood sugar is already low. Drinking alcohol at this time can quickly lead to hypoglycemia, causing dizziness, sweating, palpitations, and feeling hungrier the more you drink. In severe cases, it can lead to coma due to low blood sugar.
8. Bananas
Bananas contain a large amount of magnesium. Eating bananas when hungry will cause the body's magnesium level to increase sharply in a short time, disrupting the balance between magnesium and calcium, which obstructs blood circulation and is very unhealthy.
9. Hawthorn and Oranges
The main components of hawthorn are flavonoids (vitexin, quercetin, quercitrin, hyperoside, etc.) and organic acids (organic acids, hawthorn acid, ursolic acid, citric acid, etc.). Among them, organic acids, hawthorn acid, and ursolic acid can cause a sharp increase in gastric acid on an empty stomach, irritating the gastric mucosa and causing discomfort such as bloating and acid reflux.
10. Garlic
Garlic contains thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, allicin, citral, and trace elements such as selenium and germanium. The allicin in garlic is relatively pungent. Eating garlic on an empty stomach can greatly irritate the gastric mucosa and intestinal walls, leading to stomach cramps and stomach pain.
Garlic contains thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, allicin
11. Cold Drinks
Eating cold drinks like ice cream or iced beverages when hungry can stimulate the stomach and intestines to go into spasm, and over time, can cause gastrointestinal diseases.
For these 11 foods, it is recommended that you avoid eating them when you are hungry to avoid affecting your health. We can eat some bread, biscuits, or rice, which are starchy foods.