My (Karen’s) immediate family lives in Central New York, and the weather is never predictable. The last day of May can be hot and humid, or chilly and damp…or anything in between. Memorial Day 2021, it was perfect. Our daughter and her family came for a cookout. They brought chairs, My husband John lit the grill, but I found I didn’t have any tables to hold additional food choices. Hamburgers and hotdogs came quickly from the grill into rolls on plates on people’s laps. Condiments got passed around and all seemed fine. I enjoyed a hamburger and a hotdog, then a bit of dessert. Beautiful day, no mosquitoes, and the delights of togetherness.
Company went home, John and I picked up and sat down for a bit of TV. Just a few hours after our picnic, I said “I’m starving”. John said “Me too”. I made us a salad with lots of fresh veggies topped with our ubiquitous bean salad (recipe included as a blog), and we were fine for the evening.
So, what went wrong between a cookout and our sensation of serious hunger?
Over the years my husband and I have incorporated more legumes and vegetables into our diet. This is really helpful for keeping us from feeling hungry. Reading Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Diet, I learned about something called the ileal brake. The end of the small intestine, just before it empties into the large intestine, is called the ileum.
“When undigested calories are detected that far down our intestines, our bodies put the brakes on eating more by curbing our appetites.”
How to Not Diet, Michael Greger, page 125
We have been counting on a sensation of satisfaction that comes from making sure there is plenty of fiber for our guts to deal with right up to the ileum. The white bread carbs and protein we had taken in had slipped right by the ileal brake, but once we indulged in our usual veggies and legumes, we were satiated. This tactic has been working really well for years, but we had never put it to a test like our Memorial Day picnic. The next cookout, weather permitting, will include an outdoor table so that vegetables and bean salad will be right there and John will be less likely to consume 4 hotdogs, some hamburgers, and still find himself starving.
Stop Losing and Win 