Introduction
The physiological condition of feeling hungry has historically influenced the way man has conducted himself and the geographical areas he has chosen to settle. The desire and ability to achieve satiety has shaped man’s choices in whichever socioeconomic activity that they choose to engage in. Hunger and the need to alleviate it continues to have an impact on how and what activities modern man engages himself in. However, the issue of hunger and satiety is one that has had a contrasting effect on human physical form as the problem of malnutrition and obesity continue to haunt. It is therefore to understand the physical, the psychological, physiological and the environmental factors that influence hunger and satiety in a human being.
Structure and Function
Konturek et al. (2003) identify the physiological mechanism as the primary and most misunderstood factor that causes hunger and satiety. For most people, hunger is the stomach being empty and satiety is the stomach being full. The chemical aspect is usually lost. In function, when there is no food in the stomach, the stomach muscles start contracting. This contraction causes the cells in the stomach lining to excrete ghrelin, a stomach hormone that sends chemical signals to the brain, informing the person that they are feeling hungry ( Iozzo, 2017) .
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That “hungry” feeling triggers the person to get up or stop whatever they are doing and go look for food. When a person consumes food, the feeling satiety, too many people, is assumed to be a natural one, but this is not the case. When food enters the gastrointestinal tract, it triggers specific chemical reactions that send messages to the brain that start triggering the fat cells to release leptin, a satiety hormone, in the right amounts ( Druce et al., 2004) . Once the stomach is full, the nerve receptors inside the stomach sense that and automatically send signals to the brain, which the brain interprets as fullness.
The structure of the stomach plays a significant role in influencing how a person feels either hunger or satiated, as it triggers those physiological chemical reactions that stop one from eating or force one to eat. When these functions do not play their role as expected, it leads to early satiety, which may lead to malnutrition or overeating, which may lead to obesity ( Drazen & Woods, 2003) .
Critical Thinking
Understanding hunger and satiety is essential in controlling oneself when it comes to food consumption. While this information may not always be at one’s fingertips when deciding to fulfil a craving or when fasting, it does offer one the psychological understanding that allows one to make individual choices. This is particularly to individuals suffering from early satiety or obesity. Today the problem of obesity has become prevalent as more and more people are becoming obese without actually understanding why they are. While many people ascribe this to genetics, understanding how they influence a person’s process of eating and their inability to stop themselves from eating is essential.
Within a social context, the physical function of a person is heavily reliant on their structural ability. The physiological factors that cause one to feel hungry or satiated directly relate to a physical ability that allows them to function as well as they are expected. Structure has most times than not influenced how function is applied and the effectiveness of such a structure, particularly within a broad context, makes it difficult. The political, social and economic systems heavily rely on their structure for function, through a complicated network of operations that ensures efficiency. Just like the stomach counterbalancing hunger and satiety through its structural form of contraction and expansion, so do the social, political and economic systems find function in their structure.
References
Drazen, D. L., & Woods, S. C. (2003). Peripheral signals in the control of satiety and hunger. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care , 6 (6), 621–629. doi: 10.1097/00075197-200311000-00003
Druce, M. R., Small, C. J., & Bloom, S. R. (2004). Minireview: Gut Peptides Regulating Satiety. Endocrinology , 145 (6), 2660–2665. doi: 10.1210/en.2004-0089
Iozzo, P. (2017). Regulation and dysregulation of appetite and satiety. Endocrine Abstracts . doi: 10.1530/endoabs.49.mtbs2
Konturek, S., Kania, J., Marlicz, K., Hahn, E., & Konturek, P. (2003). Brain-gut axis in pancreatic secretion and appetite control. Digestive Diseases and Sciences , 48 (2), 266–271. doi: 10.1023/a: 1021915124064
