What is Real Hunger?Written by Caryl Ehrlich
In order to identify hunger, you must first understand what it is. This is not as easy as it seems. Many of you may never have let yourself experience true hunger, only a feeling of discomfort. Not knowing exactly what it was, you may have been eating past hunger for such a long time you can no longer differentiate between hunger and feeling of anxiety, stress, boredom, or any number of other emotional or circumstantial stimuli. You haven’t allowed yourself to go without eating for a long enough period of time to have felt true hunger; you may not have experienced it since childhood. Each of us is born with an innate sense of hunger. When you were a baby and felt this sensation, you cried. Your mother or caregiver pacified you with a bottle or breast, and when you were no longer hungry, you pushed food away. Before you could speak, you made yourself understood. As a toddler beginning to eat baby food, you were still in control of your food consumption. Your mother might have thought you had to finish everything she served, but you had other ideas. You might have clenched your little baby teeth and not permitted one extra spoonful of anything to enter your mouth. She might have pushed your chubby little cheeks together trying to force you to open your mouth, but you would not. If she did manage to insert some food, you spit it out, sometimes on your bib, sometimes on mom. The message was clear. “No more food, Mommy.” As she persevered, you finally learned to please your mother by finishing everything on your plate. You may have been told that if you ate your vegetables, your reward would be dessert. You were bribed with a lollipop if you’d stop crying. You learned to eat all your food because it gave pleasure to others. It didn’t seem to matter anymore whether you were hungry or not. You were taught to ignore your feelings of hunger and satiation just to please someone else. And you learned well. Years later, you’re still keeping a friend company by sharing a meal when you’re not hungry, or accepting an alcoholic beverage just to be part of crowd, or to please a hostess. The dictionary describes hunger as “the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by need of food.” Some people become irritable, shaky, or disoriented if they are not fed at their usual mealtime. Others experience hunger as feeling lightheaded, empty, low, headachy, or hollow. At times a growling stomach prompts an eating episode. Some eat when they get depressed. Others lose their appetite when they get depressed. External stimuli are abundant, as are emotional and physical ones, yet few of these are hunger, just some other strain on your nervous system.
| | Teeth WhiteningWritten by P. Mehta
Teeth whitening is a process of lightening color of teeth. It involves a bleaching process that reduces discoloration of enamel and dentin caused due to smoking, aging, consumption of tea, coffee and colas. You can try tooth whitening if you have healthy teeth without any fillings. Teeth whiteners are not suitable for dark gray stains, crowns, colored fillings and stains due to some medication such as tetracycline. There are several types of products available for use at home. When selecting a whitener you must look for ADA Seal for safety and effectiveness. Tooth whiteners gels or strips contain carbamide or hydrogen peroxide as active bleaching ingredients. The bleaching gel is placed in a thin bleaching tray that fits over teeth. The tooth whitening strips are placed on teeth and gently pressed to make a contact between whitener and surface of tooth. Results are usually seen within first week. You may experience tooth sensitivity to cold or discomfort in gums during treatment. These symptoms always disappear within a couple of days after completion of treatment. The tooth whitening toothpastes help remove surface stain through action of mild abrasives or chemical polishing agents. Whitening toothpastes with ADA Seal of Acceptance program do not alter intrinsic color of teeth, unlike bleaches.
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