The science behind satiety

Abstract

The purposes of eating behavior are varied. Beyond the fact that all basic human functions require nutrients and energy, eating has many other important roles: obtaining pleasure, socializing, regulating emotions, reducing stress levels, building identity. The primary determinant of food intake is the built environment represented by the social system that surrounds us. Also many other neural subsystems (such as energy homeostatic, hedonic, emotional and stress regulation, and executive functions) together and redundantly, organize and determine eating behavior in humans. Since we live in an obesogenic culture in which barriers to satiety impair self-regulation of caloric intake, satiety is the most relevant secret to achieve a healthy life and healthy body weight. In this article, we will analyze the scientific evidence behind the different modalities of human satiety (cognitive, sensory, hedonic, mechanical and neurochemical) from a biopsychosocial approach.