FUNDAMENTALS OF INTUITIVE NUTRITION:
1.1. Components of intuitive nutrition
One can imagine that practicing the intuitive style of eating is like recreating one’s body with the skilful brush of an artist who is intune with the feelings and sensations around him. At the same time, an excessive style of eating can be compared to a crude prehistoric cave painting. The difference is great. The image that is drawn with beauty and grace will suffice for much longer.
Intuitive nutrition is a style of nutrition based on intuition. It implies a sensitivity to and understanding of the internal sensations and needs of one’s own body.
The intuitive style of nutrition develops the capability of precise coordination of feelings of hunger and satiation through the deciphering of internal sensations and the mobilization of internal forces. It focuses the human consciousness so finely and sensitively that the approach of the time of food intake can be recognized unmistakably.
Food consumption can bring both natural satisfaction and artificial pleasure. The central tenet of intuitive nutrition is that each of us can distinguish the line between necessity and excess.
Intuitive nutrition consists of preventive intuitive nutrition and restrictive intuitive nutrition.
To understand, or perhaps more precisely, to restore these principles by means of genetic memory is not so difficult, because they were formed throughout the development of many generations of mankind.
Mastering intuitive food consumption is possible for everyone, however it demands a thoughtful and analytical approach. One should consider it a long-term investment in one’s health and well-being. This new style of nutrition will become with time an unconscious healthy habit.
A process of weight loss by means of internal forces and human psychology is called neuroslimming. This method of slimming is based on conscious and subconscious control of appetite аs well as of emotions and of other manifestations of the central nervous system which lead to overeating. Autogenic slimming is a process of weight loss by means of autogenic training. Autogenic slimming is a part of neuroslimming.
1.2. Universal algorithm of overeating prevention
The main reason for eating has a purely physiological basis and it is expressed in the natural feeling of hunger. The meal sustains the human body and satisfies its need of nutrients. Eating can also be driven by various social, emotional and psychological motives
The first step on the way to loosing weight is developing the capability to clearly distinguish the natural feeling of hunger from social, emotional and psychological motives for eating. The ability to make these distinctions largely determines the success of further weight loss.
This algorithm helps define the leading reason for overeating. Because the approach to weight loss is different for physiological and socio-psychological motives for eating, the ability to sense the difference between the two is very important.
In the next chapters, there will be concise recommendations of how to prevent overeating in both cases. You will learn how to eat correctly when the natural feeling of hunger appears and also what to do in the event of social or psychological pressures to eat.
1.3. A picture is worth a thousand words
After eating there appears a state of satiation which has two stages:
- the stage of primary satiation resulting from braking of the brain food centre by impulses of the oral cavity and stomach receptors that are stimulated by the entering meal;
- the stage of true satiation resulting from nutrients from the digestion process entering the blood.
The feeling of satiation can be divided into 7 levels shown in the table below:
|
Level |
Intensity of satiation |
|
0 |
Neutral condition |
|
+ 1 |
Beginning of satiation |
|
+ 2 |
Slight satiation |
|
+ 3 |
Medium satiation |
|
+ 4 |
Strong satiation |
|
+ 5 |
Extremely overfilled stomach |
|
+ 6 |
Stomach heaviness, possible stomachaches |
The presented table can also be illustrated graphically.
The natural feeling of hunger is caused by the decrease of glucose in the blood, the acceleration of motor activity of the stomach, duodenum and small intestines, and the increase of secretions from the pancreatic and intestinal glands. The degree of expressiveness of the processes listed above defines the level of the feeling of hunger.
The table of the intensity of hunger also has 7 levels:
|
Level |
Intensity of hunger |
|
0 |
Neutral condition |
|
- 1 |
Beginning of hunger |
|
- 2 |
Slight hunger |
|
- 3 |
Medium hunger |
|
- 4 |
Strong hunger |
|
- 5 |
Extreme hunger |
|
- 6 |
Overall fatigue, dizziness |
Tabl. 2. Levels of hunger.
As in the case of the feeling of satiation, the table of the different levels of hunger can be illustrated graphically.
To create a joint system to measure the levels of hunger and satiation, it is necessary to combine both above-stated scales.
It is possible to display graphically the relationship between feelings of hunger and satiation over time in the following way: the scale of measurement of degrees of satiation and hunger is displayed on the Y-axis and time is put on the X-axis.
1.4. Food selection for the intuitive nutrition
For the practical application of the principles of preventive intuitive nutrition, it is necessary to have accurate requirements for the food products which are to be used.
The evaluation of the utility of various food products is rather subjective and varies depending on geographical region, cultural traditions, outlooks, etc. Different people understand differently what a well prepared meat dish of medium size is. Some of them see a dish as big, while others see the same dish as small, it seems fat to the one and lean to the other, insufficiently salted and underdone for someone, too saltty and overdone for someone else, etc.. There is no common opinion.
In order to elaborate a uniform algorithm of intuitive nutrition for any part of the world, a universal product was created which corresponds to all abovementioned criteria and could be used everywhere. This product is dietary fibers. Dietary fibres correspond ideally to all abovementioned requirements. In addition, they also include a variety of vitamins and minerals, as well as green tea extract.
We consider this product a tool for studying intuitive nutrition, a symbolic key that opens the door to the world of correct and healthy living.
In choosing these dietary fibres, we also considered the absence of side effects, hypoallergency, compatibility with other products, and other positive effects for health.
Another obligatory condition was the use of only natural products and natural physiological processes for weight loss..
1.5. Natural way of temporary hunger suppression
Dietary fibres are the optimal natural means for the temporary decrease of appetite and hunger suppression.
It is a component of vegetative covers which are not digestible by the human body. Thus, the specific and irreplaceable function of dietary fibres in the general process of digestion is caused.
As for their chemical structure, dietary fibres are a type of carbohydrate. Thus, they are not subject to hydrolysis under the influence of digestive enzymes and they are not absorbed by the human body.
Dietary fibres are not a simple food or substance. Fibres inherently do not possess caloric content as they are not subject to the digestive process.
Dietary fibres are very important for normal digestion. This role is well defined in the colon where dietary fibres provide mass and substrata for microbiological activity.
Dietary fibres are used as the basis of many functional foodstuffs because of their favourable action on the function of the gastrointestinal tract.
The following principle of action is used for temporary hunger suppression: slowly chewed and followed with 1 glass of water (or, depending on specific features and expressiveness of hunger, 1 chew + 1 glass of water followed in 10-15 minutes by 1 additional chew + 1 more glass of water).
Upon entering the stomach and interacting with the water,dietary fibers actively absorb the water, bulk up, and increase in volume. The formed food mass fills in corresponding gastric space and influences the sensitive nervous structures (bariatric receptors) on the stomach wall.
The bariatric receptors of the stomach initiate neurogenic impulses which are transferred to the part of the brain responsible for satiation. Then the brain generates a signal of satiation.
Additionally, the carbohydrates contained in dietary fibres play a considerable auxiliary role. The increase of glucose level influences the corresponding regions of the brain, thus initiating and strengthening the feeling of satiation and reducing the feeling of hunger.
Dietary fibers are evacuated from the stomach in 1.5 - 2 hours without any side effects and without causing any harm to the human body. The dietary fibers produce a certain feeling of satiety, thus temporarily decreasing appetite and, consequently, the volume of subsequent food intake. This process creates the natural physiological preconditions for weight reduction.
The major advantage of using dietary fibers for appetite modulation is their naturalness and complete safety for human health.
We consider this process of hunger reduction one of the basic methods of training intuitive nutrition. Like bicycling teaches us to maintain our body’s balance, the intuitive style of eating teaches us to hold the balance of our nutrition. Once we master bicycling, we keep this skill and the sense of balance for a long time. Similarly, once we master the principles of intuitive nutrition with Dietary Fibres, we will do the same easily with other kinds of food.
