Appetite Disorders - Loss of appetite can have many causes. One often-overlooked cause is blockage…
Fruit Acids
There is no need to fear that fruit acids will make the body too acidic, because they break down completely into carbon dioxide and water. As the carbon dioxide is expelled through breathing from the lungs, the way is cleared for the acid-buffering substances in fruits.
Symptoms of Appetite Disorder:
• Eating and drinking give the person no pleasure.
• Food intake is limited.
The Main Causes of Appetite Disorder:
Loss of appetite can have many causes. One often-overlooked cause is blockage of the upper respiratory tract due to causes such as a cold, hay fever, or a deviated nasal septum. When the sense of smell is impaired, taste cannot be perceived either, and this suppresses appetite.
Biological and Psychological Causes
When we are sick, particularly in feverish states, the appetite center in our brain suppresses hunger, thereby preventing our strength from being unnecessarily spent on digestion. Physical fatigue also reduces the desire for heavy meals. The saying "exercise whets the appetite" is only valid in the long term; in the short term, the rise in body temperature during exercise increases thirst and suppresses the feeling of hunger. Psychologically, appetite disorders are usually related to depression and fears; symptoms of extreme appetite loss, such as anorexia, have a dynamic that is difficult to understand and must absolutely be treated by a specialist (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychoanalyst).
Children Need Variety
The most important cause of loss of appetite in children is usually that meal plans are prepared in a one-sided manner. A one-sided diet — whether made up of sweets or fiber-rich foods — has a suppressive effect on the appetite center, since the repeated presentation of the same stimuli results in suppressed perception of both the stimulus and the pleasure.
Stimulating Appetite with Natural Colors
The color combination of food has a great effect on the appetite center in the brain. While synthetic colors have a suppressive effect on appetite, natural colors stimulate appetite. Color psychologists have found that this effect stems particularly from the color orange.
Fewer Synthetic Colors
Children are often spoiled with excessively colorful foods such as candy, ready-made ice cream, ketchup, and gummy sweets. What all these foods filled with synthetic dyes have in common is that they whet children's appetite. However, this results in more pastel-colored natural foods being passed over. No red cherry stands a chance against the red of a soft gummy bear, and no green salad can compete with green Wackelpeter (jiggly gelatin dessert).
Those who want their children to enjoy beneficial foods should limit the consumption of brightly colored ready-made foods as much as possible, in order not to disrupt children's perception of natural color. In addition, factory-made foods contain large amounts of simple sugar, which suppresses appetite.
Appetite-Stimulating Drinks
Spices whet the appetite in two ways: they enhance the flavor of food and the pleasure of eating.
In many countries, there is a custom of drinking an alcoholic apéritif before a meal. Campari is particularly well-loved, and due to the bitter compounds it contains, it truly does have a stimulating effect on the appetite center. Of course, this does not apply to children.
Give Yourself Time
Everything we do in daily life gives us pleasure in proportion to the time we devote to it. The same is true for eating. It is not without reason that appetite disorders are far less common in France than in Germany, Turkey, or the USA.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR MEAL PLAN
Less Sweets
Even our grandmothers forbade eating sweets before a meal. And they were right! Because the simple sugars and flavoring agents in chocolate, gummy candies, and cakes have a suppressive effect on our appetite center, even if only briefly. More importantly, in the long term these substances dull the sense of taste, meaning that over time, one has almost no desire for other foods.
Less Intense Flavors
Excessively fatty foods also dull the sense of taste. When dishes are drowned in the intensity of animal fats and sauces, the subtle nuances of the cuisine are lost.
Biological Substances Against Loss of Appetite
Fruit acids stimulate the digestive organs and activate the metabolism. Together, the two have a stimulating effect on appetite. Fruit acids are found in all types of fruit, particularly apples and currants.
• Bitter substances have a digestion-stimulating effect and stimulate the appetite center in the brain. Chicory and grapefruit contain these bitter substances abundantly.
Dr. Hüseyin NAZLIKUL
IFMANT = President of the International Federation of Neural Therapy
President of the Scientific Neural Therapy Regulation Association