Summer Eating Habits

As summer approaches and the weather changes, so do your eating habits. When it comes to the summer, the whole nation seems to just want to grab a nice chilled drink and sit in the garden with the BBQ on. This is a massive difference to the eating habits found in the winter, that’s usually a general tendency to binge eat almost anything, with a huge craving for takeaways and fatty, unhealthy foods.

So why is this the case?

With dipping a bit into science simplified, the body and brain feel the urge to eat more in the winter to store more as fat, to help keep the body warm as the temperature drops. Whereas in the summer the body’s warmer, meaning that carrying the excess weight around contributes to tiredness and heat, causing more sweat which the body wants to avoid doing where necessary, and sees cutting stored fat as the solution.

Upon further research, Nutritionist & Physiologist Ritesh Bawri suggests that the amount of light stimulates hunger, saying that when there is less light our body naturally begins to crave food to store it. Which can be linked in with the food storage for warmth concept, adding more solidity to both of these feelings.

Furthermore, the hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls your appetite as well as regulating your temperature. With this part of the brain focussing on the bodies temperature and the release of sweat to cool the body down, it tends to pay less attention towards your hunger, therefore reducing the cravings for food. This theory is also linked to the urge to drink more water and less fizzy drinks in the summer, as although they’ll both help regulate the bodies temperature, the less sugars and calories found in water and cordial based drinks require less work from the body. The latter though is just a theory as there’s been so physical proof that this part of the brain can determine what type of food or drink to consume, as opposed to just determining when it is to consume.

Advice from MFB

Sunlight is useful in many ways, from triggering chemicals in the brain to giving the body certain vitamins, life just seems so much better when sat outside with the sun shining. We advise that when the sun does come out that you continue to eat your favourite foods, stay active and make sure to drink plenty of fluids and keep the body hydrated.