This small change when eating can actually delay aging and regulate blood sugar and blood lipids! Really super simple
There is an old saying in our country: "Eat until you are 70% full, and you will live healthy until old age." Modern scientific research shows that maintaining some "hunger" is really more beneficial to physical health.
Be appropriately hungry
There are so many benefits
1Regulate blood sugar and blood lipids
A systematic analysis by Mark Mattson's team at Johns Hopkins University found that intermittent fasting and maintaining moderate hunger can improve blood sugar regulation through metabolic switching, and have been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes in both animals and clinical trials.
Specifically, intermittent fasting can change the body's energy supply mode from relying on liver glycogen to decompose glucose to relying on fatty acid oxidation and ketone bodies for energy supply, thereby achieving the purpose of stabilizing blood sugar and decomposing fat.
Other research results at home and abroad also show that the hunger caused by intermittent fasting can regulate fatty acid metabolism through various mechanisms, promote the decomposition and inhibit the synthesis of fatty acids, and is very beneficial to controlling blood lipids and preventing cardiovascular diseases.
2. Increase energy
Feeling sleepy after eating is not an illusion, but a fact - this is mainly related to blood sugar fluctuations.
Blood sugar will rise rapidly after we eat, especially after eating refined carbohydrates (polished rice and white flour). High blood sugar promotes the secretion of serotonin, bringing a sedative effect; at the same time, insulin levels rise, a large amount of glucose enters cells, and blood sugar drops rapidly, exacerbating fatigue; the release of some inflammatory factors stimulated by high blood sugar can also make people more fatigued, and excess glucose may increase free radicals, damage mitochondria, and reduce the body's energy production efficiency. After this combination of punches, I can't even think about it without feeling sleepy.
But if you eat less, "don't eat too full + don't eat too much", such as using corn, sweet potatoes, and multigrain rice instead of rice and steamed buns, these foods will raise blood sugar slowly and have a strong feeling of satiety, which will not easily lead to post-meal drowsiness.
3. Delay aging
As early as 1997, researchers pointed out that limiting calories and reducing food intake can reduce the damage of harmful free radicals to the body, delay aging and extend lifespan. Recently, a series of studies at the University of Michigan confirmed that reducing food intake (or simply feeling hungry) can delay the aging of fruit flies. This may be due to changes in gene expression of brain neurons caused by starvation, which affects the aging process.
Other research results have found that long-term and moderate reductions in energy intake reduce the expression of aging-related proteins in the adipose tissue of healthy adults and slow down the aging rate by 2% to 3%. Appropriate food restriction also has a positive impact on inhibiting the aging rate of the brains of the elderly and significantly improves their memory and executive functions.
4. Regulate immunity
The results of a study in April 2025 showed that when mice feel hungry, they control immune cells through the brain nervous system, causing rapid reorganization of immune cells in the blood, significantly reducing inflammatory monocytes, and maintaining immune homeostasis. Researchers believe that moderate hunger may regulate and enhance immunity through this mechanism, but excessive hunger should not be allowed.
Stay “Hungry” Correctly
The key is moderation + matching
Seeing this, do many friends want to start restricting their diet immediately? There are still many people in life who only eat very little a day in order to lose weight.
Don't worry, unscientific dietary restrictions will do more harm than good. Programs such as the "16+8" time-restricted eating and alternate-day fasting have been found to increase the risk of hair loss. It is recommended that everyone adopt a mild and sustainable "hunger maintenance method."
How to be more gentle and sustainable? Here are 4 key points to understand.
First, you need to understand the limits of staying hungry.
According to the recommendations of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", healthy light manual workers need 2250kcal of calories per day for men and about 1800kcal for women. You can use various APPs or small programs to check your daily caloric intake. If it is higher than the recommended amount, you can reduce it to the recommended amount or adjust it downwards by 300 to 500 kcal as appropriate (intensive mental workers consume more energy and should not decrease too much). It is best to go step by step.
However, it is not recommended to blindly reduce energy intake for people over 60 years old, infants, young children, pregnant women and other people.
The elderly have poor digestion and absorption capabilities, and long-term and excessive dietary restriction may lead to muscle loss, malnutrition, etc. Infants, young children, adolescents and children are in the growth and development period and consume a lot of energy. Excessive dietary restriction will affect their growth and development and bring many adverse effects. Pregnant women and nursing mothers need to nurture their fetuses and secrete milk. Not only should they not restrict their diet excessively, but they also need to increase nutrition appropriately according to their diet.
In addition, dietary restrictions in diabetic patients may induce hypoglycemia. If necessary, they should be carried out with caution under the guidance of a doctor or nutritionist.
Second, we must choose food correctly and mix it reasonably.
If you want to maintain moderate hunger without being unbearable or malnourished, you must choose foods high in protein and dietary fiber. This can not only enhance satiety and delay hunger, but also ensure normal blood sugar and blood lipids, prevent muscle loss, and maintain normal immunity.
For example, using oats, chickpeas, boiled corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkins instead of 1/3 to 1/2 of the polished rice and white flour staple food, and then adding high-protein foods such as light braised beef tendons, steamed/boiled fish and shrimp, eggs, milk yogurt, low-salt dried beans, nuts, and fresh fruits and vegetables will definitely make you eat well and feel "full". It is like equipping the body with a "slow-burn engine" that slowly releases heat without stopping.
Eating small meals frequently and healthy snacks is also a good method: only eat seven to eight percent full at each meal, and choose sugar-free yogurt, fruit or low-salt and low-oil konjac products as snacks between meals, which can well resist "hunger".
Although it is a cliché to chew slowly, it can really reduce food intake - the human brain only starts to receive the "full" signal after 15 minutes of eating. If you eat too fast, you are very likely to "stuff too much" without realizing it.
Third, distinguish between "greedy" and "hungry".
Sometimes we eat just because we are hungry rather than hungry, right?
Then we need to gradually build an external brain "reminder" for ourselves. Every time we want to eat, this reminder will jump out and stop us, allowing us to regain our sanity for 2 to 3 seconds and think about whether it is because we are hungry or because we are greedy.
In addition, maintaining a regular diet and maintaining a calm mood can also help to combat eating caused by cravings or bad emotions. Having a good meal and mood will make us feel that we are well taken care of, and we will not think about making up for the shortcomings of our stomach and heart by eating recklessly.
Proper exercise can also control a strong appetite. This is not only the positive impact of endorphins on mood, but also the "sense of control" brought by exercise, which makes us more trustful in ourselves and more self-disciplined.
Fourth, the plan for “maintaining hunger” should vary from person to person.
There is no need to blindly follow a certain "stay hungry" plan. You should choose the timing and degree of "stay hungry" based on your own eating and exercise habits, daily routine, etc. Once your body has any discomfort, you should make adjustments immediately.
For example, if not eating after lunch makes you feel stomach upset, then eat three regular meals + reduce the food intake at each meal by 10%; if 5:2 intermittent fasting is difficult to adhere to, then try reducing dinner by 1/3 to 1/4 every day. Only what is appropriate and suitable for you is the best.
Finally, I would like to remind you of two points:
1. No matter which method is adopted to control diet and maintain hunger, the essence is to limit caloric intake rather than "squeezing food intake" - the energy intake of eating a piece of small cake is much higher than that of a bowl of multigrain rice. Seemingly eating “less” does not necessarily mean “eating less”.
2. Don’t go to extremes to maintain hunger. Excessive hunger will not only reduce the basal metabolic rate, but also affect immunity, cognitive ability, emotional state, etc. Moreover, in a state of excessive hunger, it is easy to follow instincts and choose high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. A steady flow of water and being able to hold on comfortably are the prerequisites for obtaining the benefits of hunger.
I hope everyone can eat healthily and enjoy three meals a day with balanced nutrition and moderate hunger.
Planning and production
Author丨Wang Lu, registered nutritionist, member of Chinese Nutrition Society
Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, Member of the Health Communication Branch of the Chinese Association of Preventive Medicine
Planning丨Yang Yaping
Editor丨He Yumeng
(Source: Popular Science China WeChat official account)
