Satiety is the satisfied feeling of fullness. Satiation naturally brings your meal to an end. Consumption that’s brought to a health promoting close leaves you in a state of pleasant satisfaction.
Before you begin to eat, the sensation of hunger is a healthy motivator for you to seek food. Once eating starts, hunger declines and the feeling of fullness begins.
Satiety is primarily governed by numerous physiological responses. Albeit, behavior and environment can have an affect as well. Some of the physiological causes of normal satiety include:
- tryptophan
- bulk of food
- calorie content
- nutrient content
- physical activity
- hypothalmus signal
- insulin level in blood
- stomach, intestinal distention
- adipose cell adipsine enzyme production
- histamine, serotonin neurotransmitter production
- hormones ~ endorphins, cortisol, cholecystokinin, secretin, gastrin, glucagon
Some external and behavioral forces that can also have an affect on satiety involve:
- personal beliefs
- psychological, emotional factors
- environmental ~ food availability, time of day, social obligations, climate
- food characteristics ~ taste, texture, color, previous experience with particular food
Fullness can inhibit further eating too soon or too late. Early satiety may cause malnutrition and unintentional weight loss. Whereas, late fullness can cause weight gain and its associative health consequences. Therefore, knowing what causes satiety might help you combat either condition.
Some of the causes of fullness feeling too soon are:
- nausea
- heartburn
- dyspepsia
- peptic ulcer
- gastroparesis
- stomach tumor
- pancreatic cancer
- anxiety, panic attack
- intestinal obstruction
- autonomic neuropathy
Those with anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder, are not under eating because of this cause for satiety.
For many, satiety signals too late or eating continues beyond the feeling of fullness. Why this occurs is a complex health situation for which obesity is often the outcome.
Although, what you consume plays a vital role in the dynamics of weight loss. Knowing the causes of satiety and refraining from further consumption upon fullness is an important factor.
Some of the causes of satiety to signal fullness too late include:
- inactivity
- empty adipose cells
- hormonal imbalance
- neurotransmitter issue
- consuming too much sugar
- eating food that is quickly digested
- hypothalamus nerve cell destruction
- consuming low fiber, nutrient deficient foods
For some, satiety may be easier to control by spreading intake of food over the course of the day, rather than over eating during a couple of meals. And motivated to seek food solely because it distracts from psychological issues is outside the natural hunger to satiation cycle.
Since a full stomach leads to the feeling of satiety, stomach reduction surgery helps you lose weight because it means you’ll feel full sooner. Yet, stomach filling is not the only cause of satiety. Thus, this overweight treatment measure must be supported by other fullness feeling measures, i.e. consume a healthy diet.
