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> A good way to start is to eat only when feeling hungry LOL, that's what everyone riding the "western diet" blood sugar roller coaster is already doing. If t

> A good way to start is to eat only when feeling hungry LOL, that's what everyone riding the "western diet" blood sugar roller coaster is already doing. If the diet doesn't reflect the environment our biological needs evolved in, acting without self discipline, eating based on how you feel, is a sure path to obesity, diabetes, and NAFLD. Horrible advice.

rramadass 2y ago
If you take that advice in isolation while your Diet is shit, of course it is not applicable. If you want a little more detailed overview see my previous comments here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469
s1artibartfast 2y ago
I think the charitable interpretation is that they're drawing a distinction between physical hunger and emotional hunger. I "feel" like I could go for a bacon cheeseburger basically 24s hours today. I feel like I could eat another right after I finished the first. All of that is emotional. That is pretty different than symptoms true physical hunger. My stomach starts to grumble after 24 hours without food. After about 48 hours I feel lethargic and cognitively disordered. I think that a majority of Americans confuse the two because it has been years or even decades since they actually experienced the symptoms of insufficient calorie intake
- batch12 2y ago
  For me the best change was when I got used to feeling peckish most of the time. I feel better when I am slightly hungry than after I eat, especially if it's a large meal. With that feeling as my baseline, I really can tell when I need to eat.
- rramadass 2y ago
  Yes, i meant "Physical Hunger" with an implicit proper and healthy Diet. The point was that one need not eat according to a wall clock and lifestyle choices.
scotty79 2y ago
It can be good advice with additional conditions. For example I now eat whenever I feel hungry but only for the half of the time that I'm alive. For the other half I just don't eat at all. The only exception I make is for tea and occasional coffee with milk. One day I'm eating only till 4PM and the next one after 4PM and so on. Already lost 10 pounds in 2 months from being slightly overweight with no additional lifestyle changes and almost effortlessly because it's surprisingly easy to distract myself from eating for few hours. I think we are tuned to eat when we want but also to the food not being available all the time.
- pengaru 2y ago
  > It can be good advice with additional conditions. For example I now eat whenever I feel hungry but only for the half of the time that I'm alive. For the other half I just don't eat at all. The only exception I make is for tea and occasional coffee with milk. You're effectively saying "It's good advice if I ignore it half the time", with your positive outcome stemming from the time spent ignoring it and not eating altogether. It's silly and harmful advice. Feelings are inherently irrational, we shouldn't advise people to act on them. When it comes to diet, what you eat largely governs how it makes you feel. The "feeling hungry" part is emergent, root cause largely being the diet.
  - scotty79 2y ago
    After consideration, I think you are right. I think the essence of this advice is to avoid eating for social, customary or emotional reasons. So what I wrote basically is totally unrelated because, you can get away with all of that and eat for any stupid reason if you restrict yourself to doing it just half of the time.
    - rramadass 2y ago
      No, he/she is not right. See my rebuttal here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42144113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42144113
  - rramadass 2y ago
krisoft 2y ago
> LOL, that's what everyone riding the "western diet" blood sugar roller coaster is already doing. I don’t think so. In my observation a lot of people eat because it is time to eat, or because others are eating, or because they are bored, or because food is at hand. > acting without self discipline That is a curious thing to say. Not eating when one is not hungry takes a lot of self discipline. “Eat only when hungry” is a whole bunch of not eating.
- simmerup 2y ago
  When I was regularly eating sugar, I was always hungry. I couldn't go an hour or two without having a snack of something. Ever since I switched to whole food diet, I don't get nearly as hungry and easily go 12+ hours without food without a thought I think you're underestimating just how hungry people feel
  - krisoft 2y ago
    > I think you're underestimating just how hungry people feel Possible. Or people have no clue what hunger really is. But still the advice didn’t say “eat every time you are hungry”. It said “A good way to start is to eat only when feeling hungry.” That is actually a prohibition. The advice is equivalent with: do not eat when you are not hungry. It also in the very sentence admits that this is not the only rule to be followed. That’s the “A good way to start”. Meaning that there are other things to be aware of. One of them being what you eat as you mention.
    - rramadass 2y ago
      Thanks for explaining my comment clearly. It was frustrating to see people reading it in isolation and drawing the wrong conclusions either unintentionally or willfully.

rramadass 2y ago

If you take that advice in isolation while your Diet is shit, of course it is not applicable. If you want a little more detailed overview see my previous comments here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469

s1artibartfast 2y ago

I think the charitable interpretation is that they're drawing a distinction between physical hunger and emotional hunger. I "feel" like I could go for a bacon cheeseburger basically 24s hours today. I feel like I could eat another right after I finished the first. All of that is emotional. That is pretty different than symptoms true physical hunger. My stomach starts to grumble after 24 hours without food. After about 48 hours I feel lethargic and cognitively disordered. I think that a majority of Americans confuse the two because it has been years or even decades since they actually experienced the symptoms of insufficient calorie intake

batch12 2y ago
For me the best change was when I got used to feeling peckish most of the time. I feel better when I am slightly hungry than after I eat, especially if it's a large meal. With that feeling as my baseline, I really can tell when I need to eat.
rramadass 2y ago
Yes, i meant "Physical Hunger" with an implicit proper and healthy Diet. The point was that one need not eat according to a wall clock and lifestyle choices.

scotty79 2y ago

It can be good advice with additional conditions. For example I now eat whenever I feel hungry but only for the half of the time that I'm alive. For the other half I just don't eat at all. The only exception I make is for tea and occasional coffee with milk. One day I'm eating only till 4PM and the next one after 4PM and so on. Already lost 10 pounds in 2 months from being slightly overweight with no additional lifestyle changes and almost effortlessly because it's surprisingly easy to distract myself from eating for few hours. I think we are tuned to eat when we want but also to the food not being available all the time.

pengaru 2y ago
> It can be good advice with additional conditions. For example I now eat whenever I feel hungry but only for the half of the time that I'm alive. For the other half I just don't eat at all. The only exception I make is for tea and occasional coffee with milk. You're effectively saying "It's good advice if I ignore it half the time", with your positive outcome stemming from the time spent ignoring it and not eating altogether. It's silly and harmful advice. Feelings are inherently irrational, we shouldn't advise people to act on them. When it comes to diet, what you eat largely governs how it makes you feel. The "feeling hungry" part is emergent, root cause largely being the diet.
- scotty79 2y ago
  After consideration, I think you are right. I think the essence of this advice is to avoid eating for social, customary or emotional reasons. So what I wrote basically is totally unrelated because, you can get away with all of that and eat for any stupid reason if you restrict yourself to doing it just half of the time.
  - rramadass 2y ago
    No, he/she is not right. See my rebuttal here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42144113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42144113
- rramadass 2y ago

krisoft 2y ago

> LOL, that's what everyone riding the "western diet" blood sugar roller coaster is already doing. I don’t think so. In my observation a lot of people eat because it is time to eat, or because others are eating, or because they are bored, or because food is at hand. > acting without self discipline That is a curious thing to say. Not eating when one is not hungry takes a lot of self discipline. “Eat only when hungry” is a whole bunch of not eating.

simmerup 2y ago
When I was regularly eating sugar, I was always hungry. I couldn't go an hour or two without having a snack of something. Ever since I switched to whole food diet, I don't get nearly as hungry and easily go 12+ hours without food without a thought I think you're underestimating just how hungry people feel
- krisoft 2y ago
  > I think you're underestimating just how hungry people feel Possible. Or people have no clue what hunger really is. But still the advice didn’t say “eat every time you are hungry”. It said “A good way to start is to eat only when feeling hungry.” That is actually a prohibition. The advice is equivalent with: do not eat when you are not hungry. It also in the very sentence admits that this is not the only rule to be followed. That’s the “A good way to start”. Meaning that there are other things to be aware of. One of them being what you eat as you mention.
  - rramadass 2y ago
    Thanks for explaining my comment clearly. It was frustrating to see people reading it in isolation and drawing the wrong conclusions either unintentionally or willfully.