Appetite
Desire to eat, regulating energy intake across higher life-forms.
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The drive to consume food, commonly triggered by hunger, is what defines appetite.[1] Even without hunger, the presence of enticing food can trigger a desire to eat.[1] All higher life-forms possess appetite, which functions to ensure they take in enough energy for their metabolic requirements.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Physiology
- Psychology
- Medicine
- Related disorders
- Anorexia nervosa
- bulimia nervosa
- binge eating disorder
- cachexia
- ARFID
- Key hormones
- Ghrelin (stimulates hunger), Leptin (stimulates satisfaction)
- Genetic link
- Prader–Willi syndrome (chromosome alterations)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Appetite can be influenced by both hereditary and environmental influences, and disruptions in either area can result in appetite that is not normal.[2] A diminished appetite, termed anorexia, may stem from physical illnesses like infections, autoimmune disorders, or cancer, as well as from psychological issues such as stress or mental health conditions.[2] Excessive eating, known as hyperphagia, can be caused by things like hormone imbalances, mental health conditions including depression, and various other factors.[2] Indigestion, medically called dyspepsia, can reduce appetite because it creates a sensation of being "overly full" shortly after starting to eat.[2]
Problems with taste and smell, such as dysgeusia, can also have an impact on a person's appetite.[2] A genetic link to abnormal appetite is demonstrated by Prader–Willi syndrome, an obesity condition first identified in the 1950s that results from changes to chromosomes.[3] The hormone ghrelin makes you feel hungry, while leptin makes you feel full after eating.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Appetite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hedonic and incentive signals for body weight control", Reviews in Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders, September 2011, p. 141–51 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Appetite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Indigestion", Digestive.niddk.nih.gov; "Taste and smell function in chronic disease: a review of clinical and biochemical evaluations of taste and smell dysfunction in over 5000 patients at The Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington, DC", American Journal of Ot (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Appetite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Weight control and appetite--a genetic perspective", Clinical Nutrition, October 1990, p. 291–3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Appetite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How The Hormones Ghrelin and Leptin Affect Appetite", The Monterey Diet (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Appetite (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Appetite (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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