Appetite Loss
Eat Plenty Of:
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Oysters (tinned or fresh), lean meat and poultry
- Nuts, seeds and whole grains
Cut Down On:
- Bran, which inhibits mineral absorption
- Alcohol
- Salt
- Tea and coffee, which can cause loss of potassium and zinc
When a normally healthy appetite goes wrong it can be due to a number of causes, ranging from travel sickness to the common cold, from depression to eating the wrong kind of food. If the appetite loss continues for longer than seven days, see a doctor.
When appetite loss is associated with a fairly trivial disorder such as a hangover or indigestion, the appetite will return once the condition has cleared up. If you eat a lot of snacks which upset your eating patterns, try to tempt your appetite back with fruit, especially bananas, and with the other foods recommended above.
Appetite is regulated by the appestat, a sensory area of the brain which gauges hunger and sends out hormones that tell the body it is time to eat. When the appestat malfunctions — perhaps due to an unbalanced diet, poor general health or a hormone imbalance — the wrong messages are transmitted to the body, with the result that a well-fed person may feel hungry or somebody who is under nourished may have no appetite at all.
Vitamins and Minerals
Deficiencies of minerals can inhibit the smooth functioning of the appestat and reduce the desire to eat. Diets with too little zinc, which is found in oysters, crab, crayfish, lean meat, poultry and pumpkin seeds, for example, can diminish the senses of both smell and taste and therefore undermine the appetite. Zinc absorption may also be inhibited by eating a lot of bran, taking iron supplements or by drinking too much alcohol. Zinc reserves are also depleted by physical exercise, stress and the periods of rapid growth.
Elderly people or those undergoing diuretic therapy can be subject to a lack of potassium, a known cause of appetite loss. Bananas and potatoes are particularly rich in this mineral, although plenty of other fruits and vegetables will also compensate for any deficiency, particularly if salt intakes are reduced.
Appetite loss can also be caused by an excessive intake of vitamin D. However, this is unlikely to occur unless the vitamin is taken in tablet form (as prescribed for rickets or osteoporosis) or as fish oil supplements.