Hunger

[Bluetit1802]

I could eat a scabby donkey is the phrase used in this house.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I could eat a scabby donkey is the phrase used in this house.

Well at least that would be low carb.

 

[Guzzler]

The phrase here is 'I could eat a scabby horse then go back for the jockey'.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Most jockeys are a bit on the small side not much meat on them, still OK for a snack I suppose.

 

[Crystalwand]

Hunger is not what we think it is. Medically speaking, its characteristic symptom is contraction of the stomach muscles: "hunger pangs" that can cause considerable pain. These cramps are especially severe in children and young people but affect older people too. This is associated with malnutrition, which affects about 12 percent of the world's population. (Info is paraphrased from Wikipedia.)

So my guess is that the majority of people in Western countries and middle-income developing countries have never suffered from this kind of hunger. We may feel "hungry" but what we mean by that is that we have an appetite, are craving food, are feeling weak or irritable, .... etc. I personally cannot remember having violent stomach pangs caused by hunger. I have been fortunate that, even in financially hard times, my family always had enough resources to pay for food in the medium term (going without food, or without sufficient food, for a short time does not cause malnutrition).

I have been reminded of this when discussing my own hunger on this forum, and when other people talk about hunger, or about fasting. Many of us -- even on one, or another, restrictive diet -- are consuming more food than our ancestors could manage to hunt, forage or grow for themselves. To really "know" hunger would, I suppose, entail doing something like the Newcastle Diet or doing some extreme fasting?

I would like to agree with your statement about, not many people in the western world have had malnutrition, but I can't walk a mile in my shoes then you can say this is true, and I am sure I am not alone, this is said from my point of view and the life I had

 

[JohnEGreen]

"The number of hospital beds in England taken up by patients being treated for malnutrition has almost trebled over the last 10 years, in what charities say shows the “genuinely shocking” extent of hunger and poor diet.

Official figures reveal that people with malnutrition accounted for 184,528 hospital bed days last year, a huge rise on 65,048 in 2006-07. The sharp increase is adding to the pressures on hospitals, which are already struggling with record levels of overcrowding.

Critics have said the upward trend is a result of rising poverty, deep cutbacks in recent years to meals on wheels services for the elderly and inadequate social care support, especially for older people."

https://www.theguardian.com/society...-england-taken-up-by-people-with-malnutrition

And that was an article from last year.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

I recall reading somewhere, that most of us in the Western world are not hungry but dehydrated and we get the signals confused 98% of the time. For diabetics, I seem to recall hearing a doctor say that most T1 and T2 are severely dehydrated due to the condition also. It is an interesting point though. Initially I had to learn how to rehydrate myself properly by drinking a 5 ounce glass every half hour - for the waking day rather than guzzling water down when I remembered. It seems a lot but its one of the ways of ensuring you don't have to run to the loo every 5 minutes, and that way you are actually replenishing the water loss that your body experiences on a day to day basis.

Similar to that I once heard that at times when we feel we need something to eat or are feeling "hungry" we are actually thirsty and if we drink some water it will normally do the trick!

Something about the body not being able to differentiate between hunger and thirst!..

Not sure how correct this is..

 

[Kristin251]

When I was FINALLY DX’d T1, I was released with the DX of T 1, severe muscle wasting, severe malnourishment and severe protein deficiency despite the fact I was eating tons. I was told I was starving in the land of plenty. This of course I realize was an extended circumstance.

I’m sure there are more anorexics and bulemics now too. Ant then of course the terrible non nutritious dietary choices some people have.

Then throw gluten intolerance / celiac in that don’t absorb nutrients. The list goes on....

 

[first14808]

So the Guardian again-
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/01/ricicles-victims-millennials-peculiar-tastes

However, millennials don’t eat cereal – in 2015, a Mintel survey found that 40% of respondents said it was “an inconvenient breakfast choice” because you had to wash your bowl afterwards. (Presumably we’ll only get our hands dirty if there’s an avocado on offer.)

Ok, so millenials can be an easy target, but I've encountered quite a few who have no idea how to cook. Some even struggle to heat ready-meals. I'm not sure if cooking/home education is part of our modern education system, but if parents don't cook and school doesn't teach or encourage them.. We'll have a generation of millenials at the mercy of the fast food industry. And they'll probably experience more hunger as some of those meals probably have more useful nutrition in the packaging than the food.

Then there's the food scares. Lard's good/bad. Eggs are good/bad. Drinking's good/bad. Even the avocado, as that's pretty high in fats. And gets political-

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-house-baby-boomer-millennials-deposit-brunch

A word to boomers: we didn’t invent the avocado. You did. You embraced it so wholeheartedly that you yearned for bathroom suites in the same shade.

Poor taste in interior decorating doesn't mean us old timers are forcing avocados on snowflakes. The brunch choice is entirely theirs, and there's a far point to make about cost vs nutritional value. So people may be going 'hungry' simply because they've not been taught proper nutrition.

But maybe it's unfair just to single out millenials.. I've known a few people who've happily dropped £20K+ on a luxury kitchen, but can't or won't cook.

 

[Rachox]

......Ok, so millenials can be an easy target, but I've encountered quite a few who have no idea how to cook. Some even struggle to heat ready-meals. I'm not sure if cooking/home education is part of our modern education system, but if parents don't cook and school doesn't teach or encourage them.. We'll have a generation of millenials at the mercy of the fast food industry. And they'll probably experience more hunger as some of those meals probably have more useful nutrition in the packaging than the food.

I think my two millennials, who have both left home in the last 14 months, are doing ok!
Here’s a selection of their pictures they sent home to reassure me they aren’t starving!

 

[Grateful]

But maybe it's unfair just to single out millenials.. I've known a few people who've happily dropped £20K+ on a luxury kitchen, but can't or won't cook.

I have two millenial daughters. I could give details, but I will protect their privacy and say only that both of them have good diets and that one of them is a very good cook (the other one does not eat enough, but I am sure that is not an uncommon parental complaint). Perhaps it helped that during their entire childhoods, we ate our evening meal together -- even during the height of the teenage years -- and the meals were always prepared from scratch.

After my diagnosis earlier this year, I let them know that there is a (small, but scientifically verified) genetic factor in T2D, which might even be a bit larger in our case (all three of us are thin). I suggested they avoid "overdoing" the carbs and try to exercise regularly, but not to make too big a deal of it.

To my knowledge, about the only "disaster food" my daughters regularly indulged in during their college years was Ramen noodles!

 

[Bluetit1802]

I have two millenial grandchildren, one a student and the other a post grad. They are both good cooks, and cook all their meals from scratch. They are both vegans. When at home with their parents they still cook their own meals from scratch separately from when their parents are cooking (who are not vegans) They also do all their own food shopping. OK so now you know I have Millenial adult grandchildren, you will have guessed I am a Boomer! I can't cook for the life of me other than basic stuff, and I had 3 years of domestic science/cookery lessons at school.

 

[first14808]

Ok, ok, I apologise for gratuitous generalisations or stereotyping.. But the Guardian started it! And noodles are a right of passage, along with fishfinger sandwiches. Oh, and Koka noodles.. they're the best!

I still think cooking and some basic life skills should be taught at schools though. When I went, boys did crafts & technology, girls did domestic science (with a few exceptions). Combining those would help kids be healthier, more self-sufficient and save money.

 

[Rachox]

Ok, ok, I apologise for gratuitous generalisations or stereotyping.. But the Guardian started it! And noodles are a right of passage, along with fishfinger sandwiches. Oh, and Koka noodles.. they're the best!

I still think cooking and some basic life skills should be taught at schools though. When I went, boys did crafts & technology, girls did domestic science (with a few exceptions). Combining those would help kids be healthier, more self-sufficient and save money.

Or the parents could teach them!

 

[Bluetit1802]

Or the parents could teach them!

That wouldn't have done me much good! My mum did cook and did some baking, but hated it. Mind you, it was always fresh food bought the same day when possible and cooked from scratch. My dad couldn't boil an egg successfully. When I was first married and cooking a Sunday roast I had to ring her up and ask how long to cook the cauliflower for. I ended up buying a load of easy cook books.

 

[Grateful]

When I went, boys did crafts & technology, girls did domestic science (with a few exceptions).

I was the only boy in the typing course (UK secondary school, early 1970s). It turned out to be fortuitious, because having typing skills later became a mainstream necessity no longer restricted to "secretarial" careers.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I was the only boy in the typing course (UK secondary school, early 1970s). It turned out to be fortuitious, because having typing skills later became a mainstream necessity no longer restricted to "secretarial" careers.

I was at a single sex girls grammar school and we were all force fed domestic science and needlework. Not only can I not cook very well, I also cannot sew!

 

[JohnEGreen]

My father being ex Navy firmly believed that every one should be able to fend for themselves, so from an early age I had to be able to iron cook, sew and anything else that was required so as not to be dependent on others for the necessities.

 

[Grateful]

My father being ex Navy firmly believed that every one should be able to fend for themselves, so from an early age I had to be able to iron cook, sew and anything else that was required so as not to be dependent on others for the necessities.

I just love being able to "fix stuff" of whatever kind. I love tools, too, of whatever kind. There is nothing like the satisfaction of having the right tool for the right job. (I have a room-full of tools that have only been used once or twice.....)

Sorry, helping to derail my own thread. So what about that Hunger Thing, huh? Awful what is happening in Yemen, entirely human-created.

Edited to add "Diabetes in Yemen": http://blogs.redcross.org.uk/emergencies/2016/09/diabetes-war-zone-red-cross-helps-yemen/.

 

[Kristin251]

The first time I made pork chops for my hubby he got out steak knives. I asked why and he said pork chops right ? I said if we need steak knives we’re going to mcdonalds. After dimmer he said he had no idea pork could be so tender. He hates veggies too until he had mine. I’m glad he loves my cooking