meal frequency and insulin

[liondolphin]

i find myself eating non stop. firstly i am a slow eater. i ingest about 1 to 1.5g of food per minute. therefore i find myself hungry all the time.

now im concerned whether it will have any long term effects on my insulin? insulin is being released the whole day. it does not have time to rest like on a 3 meal diet.

do primates like orang utan graze all day?

[RRM]

i find myself eating non stop. firstly i am a slow eater. i ingest about 1 to 1.5g of food per minute. therefore i find myself hungry all the time.

now im concerned whether it will have any long term effects on my insulin? insulin is being released the whole day. it does not have time to rest like on a 3 meal diet.

do primates like orang utan graze all day?

Insulin secretion does not need 'to rest'. it just needs to be balanced (with the other hormones (glucagon, somatostatin etc) and your energy needs).
Grazing is just fine, as long as the insulin system is not over-burdened.
The thing that you are worried about, is insulin resistance (and diabetes).
This happens when you too frequently overeat (relative to energy requirements).

Grazing may just replenish lost blood sugar if you eat very slowly, and very small meals.
Eating more than that is perfectly harmless until the point of totally replenishing glycogen stores.
Only when your spare glucose stores (glycogen in liver and muscles) are completely filled up,
and still food is coming in,
that's when insulin is secreted to store the energy, but energy can only be stored as body fat.
That's where you need 3 fatty acids for each sugar (glycerol) molecule, which hinders rapidly clearing excess sugar from the blood.
(as excess glucose also needs to be converted to fatty acids)
During that process, there will be a discrepancy between the influx of energy, insulin secretion, and energy storage.
That's where insulin resistance is developed, eventually.

[liondolphin]

good post, thank you for the explanation! now i can breathe easily..i just cant stop eating..argh.

so how do i figure out the signal to stop eating? is it when i feel my abdomen starting to bloat?

is your belly flat throughout the day?

[Oscar]

If you're just starting, your body isn't yet used to the different frequency of eating, so you might want to discipline yourself in the beginning, to train your body. Something like 2 fruits (for example an apple and banana) per hour or so.

[RRM]

so how do i figure out the signal to stop eating?

You just need to train yourself.
This means that you need to learn to 'be aware' of your energy levels almost constantly.
In the beginning, you will just occasionally be able to say: "now im definitely running low on energy",
or: "now I feel really full of energy".
Learning to figure out your energy levels is just about getting to know them; keeping it in your mind a lot.
Its all in your head; its about what your focus is.
The more you think of your energy levels, the better you will be able to tell the different levels.

is it when i feel my abdomen starting to bloat?

No, that's the formation of gasses.

is your belly flat throughout the day?

Yes.
The more fiber (whole fruits) you eat, the more bloating.
The less fiber you eat (by drinking strained juices), the less bloating.

[liondolphin]

the thing is, i dont swallow the fiber..i always spit it out as it has no taste. so i don't understand why i get bloating sometimes.

and sometimes i can hear stomach grunting noises. is that a sign of hunger?

also when my abdomen start bloating, it gets really uncomfortable to eat even though i wanna eat.. i feel if i continue eating, its gonna burst.

[RRM]

the thing is, i dont swallow the fiber..i always spit it out as it has no taste. so i don't understand why i get bloating sometimes.

You think you don't ingest them, but you actually do.
There is no way you can effectively separate the bulk of fiber from the juice in your mouth.
Try seeving all your juices,
and you will see that the bloating disappears.

and sometimes i can hear stomach grunting noises. is that a sign of hunger?

No. your stomach may be empty while your blood sugar and spare glucose (glycogen) is sufficient.

also when my abdomen start bloating, it gets really uncomfortable to eat even though i wanna eat.. i feel if i continue eating, its gonna burst.

Yes, that's what fiber does.