How to Work Up an Appetite: Tips for Eating More
By KayLee Chie Kuehl
Having no appetite can be extremely annoying. Despite how delicious a particular food sounds in your head, once it's set in front of you the desire to taste it still disappears. It's now yet another dish you can't bring yourself to finish.
Although it's normal to have a limited appetite every once and a while, it's an occurrence that can quickly turn into a problem. In not eating, we risk losing weight and stripping our body of the essential nutrients it needs to survive healthily, which can result in malnutrition. To combat this problem and prevent deeper health issues, here are some tips encouraging you to eat more throughout the day!
Eat More Nutritious Foods
Foods packed full of nutrients are also calorie dense. Oftentimes, a poor appetite is the result of a lousy diet. Eating unhealthy snacks, such as chips and candy, are empty calories and lack nutrition. Protein and fat-rich foods are exceptional substitutions. Our bodies will absorb additional healthy calories than if we were to feed it junk food all day.
Understandably, it's difficult cutting unhealthy snacks out of our diets, especially due to the fact they're so addicting! But switching from, for example, a bag of potato chips to a bowl of almonds or a cup of Greek yogurt will make our stomachs much happier and healthier.
Trick Your Brain
Sometimes, our eyes can be bigger than our guts. Staring down a giant portion of food can be frightening, even more so if our appetites are already low. But there's a common trick to solve this problem. Used by body-builders and nutritionists, putting large servings of food into even larger bowls persuades our brains into thinking it's less food than it actually is. This serves as a kind of illusion, one helping us tack on extra calorie intake. It's also a great method for eating healthy foods like broccoli or asparagus that we might not find particularly appetizing.
Eat Breakfast!
Yes, it's true -- don't skip breakfast! You've likely heard this line many times over the last few years. Recent studies have proven how important breakfast is in our overall health. That first meal of the day is essential. Not only is it the first food we've consumed since we've been asleep, but it also determines how we function for a large part of the day. Eating breakfast increases our appetite and supposedly burns calories faster, making it likely we'll consume more later on.
At times, working up an appetite is complicated. However, it's rarely a good thing to be eating less than we need to. While there are a number of reasons we lose our appetites, following these tips can reignite a desire to eat. Overall, no matter what our fitness goals are, filling our bodies with nutritious foods more often will reshape our health in a positive way.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Durham, N.C.