2007-05-04 12:59:32 · 15 answers · asked by STORMY K 3 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
Hunger is the physiological need for food, and appetite is the psychological desire for food. Hunger is felt in the stomach, but interpreted in the mind.
2007-05-04 13:19:43 · answer #1 · answered by nursegrl 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hunger you can feel in your stomach is from your stomach. Hunger in your mind is just wanting to snack on something but not really hungry. Since you're asking this question you've probably have never been physically starved before. Being really hungry is not just a want to eat, it's a pain in your stomach from the lack of food.
2007-05-04 20:03:24 · answer #2 · answered by Ethan 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hunger is when the level of glycogen ( a energy reserve in the body) has dropped past a certain level. A part of your brain, the hypothalamus, registers this and communicates it to your body.
Thus you feel the hunger pangs. So hunger is a physical thing unless there is something wrong, psychologically speaking.
2007-05-04 20:09:53 · answer #3 · answered by Mattias 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A few different things can cause hunger, including a drop in your blood sugar levels, stomach acid in an empty stomach, even boredom. So I guess it's both.
2007-05-04 20:08:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our hunger is dictated by the amount of food available. Only very small children will eat the appropriate amount. I.e the right amount is two units. The very small child will eat two units of food if he has a plate with two units, three, four, so on.
Past the age of I think something like six, a child will eat however much is available. The appropriate serving for him is, say, five units. He will eat five units if there's five on his plate. He'll eat ten if there's ten on his plate.
I don't have an Internet source but this was published in the book Fat Land.
2007-05-04 20:06:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As everybody says to one degree or other--both. I think it originates in the stomach lining rubbing with an empty stomach. This then signals the mind to get busy and provide food! This is an archaic system to get the caveman's attention--that the mind has to be activated to hunt down dinner!!
2007-05-04 21:00:37 · answer #6 · answered by Martell 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've actually been told by a few experienced medical assistants/instructors that hunger begins in your mind and your brain sends that signal out to your stomach.
2007-05-04 20:04:07 · answer #7 · answered by Farrah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hunger is perception or urge, and all perception occurs in the brain (or in the mind, if you will). the stomach doesn't "know" or "feel" per se, only the brain makes sense of everything.
the stomach, when "empty", sends signals that trigger hypothalamic (part of the brain) activity, signaling hunger. the stomach is just one source of information regarding nutrition. the amount of glucose in the blood is also part of the feedback mechanism that monitors hunger.
2007-05-04 20:15:57 · answer #8 · answered by ELI 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's both but has to do more with the mind. If I'd get really grossed out, I lose my appetite. Now, my stomach may be needing food, but my mind doesn't want it.
That's how people 'lose their appetite'. They're stomach is not satisfied, yet they do not want food.
Aka: Mind over body.. or mind over matter.
2007-05-04 20:21:41 · answer #9 · answered by BMD 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hunger is both. You feel the pangs in the intestine and then your body signals that it is hungry.
2007-05-04 20:02:40 · answer #10 · answered by cows4me79 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋