The real reason why we don’t feel hungry during summers

Is the summer season making you lose interest in food? Find out why.

By: Sandhya Raghavan | | Updated: May 12, 2017 3:36 pm

All year round, you have a voracious appetite, but come summer, and you are wondering where it went. The sight of steaming idlis doesn’t seem enticing, and you are in no mood to fight for the last piece of samosa on the plate. What is it about the hot weather that makes you lose interest in food? Dr Pradip Shah, HOD, Fortis Hospital has the answer. Read on.
How does the appetite work?
If you thought it is your stomach that controls your appetite, you are wrong it is the brain. “Usually, our appetites are controlled by the hypothalamus, which is the appetite centre of our brain. It also controls things like satiety, which judges whether you are full or not,” says Dr Shah.
The hypothalamus works along with the hunger hormone ghrelin (produced by the stomach and the hypothalamus) by recognising hunger, promoting satisfaction and regulating your appetite. Read: 6 healthy foods that suppress your appetite.
What happens when the temperature rises?
The human body is very intelligent and perceptive. It can prioritise biological processes according to the conditions and act on it. “In summers, the heat robs the body of its moisture. This is because the body is trying its best to regulate its temperature by expelling water in the form of sweat. “That is why in the summer, you get dehydrated because of the thermostatic changes in the body,” says Dr Pradip.
And who exactly is also in charge of regulating your body temperature? The hypothalamus, also known as the thermostat of your body! So in summer, the hypothalamus has two jobs: one, keeping you cool and two, ensuring that you eat on time.
So when the body is trying to sweat it out, the hypothalamus pays less attention towards your hunger. That is because the digestive process also generates considerable heat, so the hypothalamus tries to suppress the appetite, all in an attempt to reduce its workload. And this is why we don’t feel hungry in the summers! Instead, the thirst increases and you feel like drinking copious amounts of water to keep yourself cool.
What should we do about it?
“Nothing!” says Dr Shah. According to him, the loss of appetite is your body’s way of communicating what it needs. So instead of force feeding yourself in summers, do what your body wants and drink a lot of water. The suppression of appetite is a natural and a transient process. Once the monsoons are here, you will be craving for hot tea and greasy pakodas again!