Since entering the summer, many people have become unappetizing and unable to eat. In the long run, it is easy to lead to malnutrition, irregular diet, and may also cause various digestive diseases.
Why does high and low temperatures affect appetite? Life Times interviews experts on how to get your lost appetite back.
Experts interviewed
Qi Cuihua, Director of Shandong Nutrition Society and Associate Professor of Nutrition at Jinan University
Huang Suiping, chief physician of the Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Why does appetite deteriorate on hot days
People always say "bitter summer", which means that the weather is hot, the body is tired, the energy is weak, and the appetite will become worse.
In fact, not only on hot days, but also in fever or after strenuous exercise, the human body has little appetite.
There are several main reasons for this phenomenon:
1. Reduced digestive juices
In a high temperature environment, the activity of sympathetic nerve and adrenal system is enhanced, the gastrointestinal tract is in a state of relative ischemia, and the function of digestive glands is reduced, so that the secretion of digestive juices such as saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, bile, and intestinal juice is reduced.
2 Central nervous system regulation
The central nervous system can also have an effect on appetite. When body temperature rises, nerve conduction transmits hot stimuli to the thermoregulatory center, which has a suppressive effect on the feeding center, thereby reducing food intake.
3. The body "blocks" heat
Human intake of food has a great influence on body temperature. Food will produce heat, and after the weather is hot, the body's basal metabolic rate is low, and less calories are needed, in this case, the human body often avoids increasing body temperature, and appetite will decrease.
4. Mood is more irritable
In psychology, there is a term called "meteorological emotional effect", which means that people's emotional state will be affected by the weather. The discomfort caused by continuous high temperature makes many people more irritable, and severe cases will even "emotional heat stroke", which will also affect appetite.
5 diseases can also affect appetite
Excluding factors such as high temperature and mood, if there is no special change in the living environment and poor appetite in a short period of time, it is necessary to be vigilant about whether these diseases are affecting appetite.
Gastrointestinal diseases
Chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, decreased gastric secretion function, digestive system dysfunction, etc., can cause loss of appetite.
Hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases
Acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, pancreatitis and other hepatobiliary diseases may cause indigestion and symptoms of anorexia.
Patients with pancreatic tumors have a very insidious onset and often manifest themselves as inexplicable loss of appetite and wasting.
Mental illness
Appetite is controlled by the brain, life and work pressure, poor sleep, will have an impact on appetite.
Mental and psychological diseases such as anorexia nervosa, depression, mental trauma, and emotional loss of appetite will make people have no appetite.
Lack of trace elements
Trace elements can ensure the normal secretion of digestive enzymes such as pepsin, lipase, and amylase in the human digestive system. The lack of trace elements in the human body can lead to loss of appetite, such as zinc deficiency, taste buds will be reduced, resulting in loss of appetite, iron deficiency anemia will also affect appetite.
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
In cardiac insufficiency, insufficient blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract leads to a decrease in digestion; Congestion of blood vessels in the gastrointestinal tract can also suppress appetite.
Severe coronary heart disease leads to heart failure, pulmonary heart disease, myocardial infarction with some atypical symptoms, and sometimes the only discomfort that occurs is decreased appetite.
In addition, if there is a sudden loss of appetite, coupled with weakness in one hand and foot, vomiting, etc., family members should be highly suspected of cerebrovascular disease and seek medical attention in time.
It should be reminded that unexplained decreased appetite or progressive weight loss is one of the important symptoms of some malignant tumors, and sometimes it is the first symptom of some tumors, and most cancer patients are in an advanced stage when they appear this symptom, such as primary liver cancer.
How to turn on the appetite switch
If you don't want to eat because it's too hot, you can change it from the following aspects to promote appetite.
Eat small, frequent meals
If you can't eat, you don't have to force yourself, but to ensure that you eat three meals on time, you can eat less and more meals, and you don't have to eat too much at the main meal, so as not to have indigestion and more likely to lead to loss of appetite.
Eat less fruits, yogurt, nuts, etc. between meals, and do not eat snacks such as candy and pastries, which in addition to high energy, will also cause digestive disorders, resulting in loss of appetite.
Eat foods containing zinc
Zinc is an important substance to promote the growth of taste buds, zinc-rich foods are mainly shellfish, animal liver, lean meat, etc., about two oysters can meet the daily zinc needs.
Mushrooms, soybeans, miscellaneous beans, wheat and other grain germs, hickory, etc. are also "zinc collectors", which can be eaten appropriately.
Try new dishes
Changing the conventional cooking method to make the food have different colors and aromas can increase appetite. Make your own three-day recipe, the meals are not the same, try to make some creative dishes.
Add acid to your diet
Sour taste plays an important role in regulating appetite, sour food can be appetizing and promote digestion, and citric acid, malic acid, etc. in sour fruits can promote the absorption of minerals such as iron.
When you have no appetite, you can eat apples, grapefruit, hawthorn, oranges, kiwis, etc., and you can also make lemonade and passion fruit water as a tea substitute.
Use seasonings wisely
Add some oyster sauce to the cold dish, add some balsamic vinegar to the stir-fry, and add some ginger slices and fragrant leaves to the soup, which can make the dish fresh and colorful, full of aroma.
Curry is spicy and sweet, with a special aroma, which can promote the secretion of saliva and gastric juice, increase gastrointestinal peristalsis, and enhance appetite.
Color matters
Color can also affect appetite, studies have found that blue and black food will reduce people's appetite, green food makes people look healthy and nutritious, the most appetizing color is red.
When you have a bad appetite, you may wish to eat more tomatoes, carrots, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables that look bright and appetizing.
Try the original taste
If you can't eat a juicy and delicious dish, you may want to use simple methods such as steaming and stewing to stimulate the aroma of the ingredients themselves.
For example, the staple food is replaced with steamed sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, yam and other coarse grains, meat can be steamed and stewed, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised fish are changed to kelp rib soup, steamed fish.
In addition, if you want to have a good appetite every day, you must also do proper exercise, do yoga, and play tai chi. ▲
Editor of this issue: Wang Xiaoqing
Copyright statement: This article is the original of "Life Times", unauthorized reproduction is refused.