Hunger is regulated by a complex system of chemicals that send signals between your brain and your body. How a food lingers on your nose, how mouth-watering it looks like, and how you remember it savor your taste buds excite chemicals within your brain.

There are practically 2 types of hunger- the physical and a psychological hunger.

Physical hunger is what you feel when the body needs nourishment, because there is a low level of glycogen and blood sugar. This stimulates a spike in ghrelin and NPY activity in the hypothalamus. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide chemical messenger secreted by the hypothalamus which controls hunger, thirst, fatigue, and body temperature. We have 2 hormones that serve as a switch whenever you feel hungry. Ghrelin would be turned on whenever you have the appetite to eat. After a meal, your ghrelin levels fall and your leptin levels rise, effectively turning off your appetite, signaling your brain that you’re already full.

Psychological hunger is associated with your eating habits. If you are used to eating while you watch tv, most likely you would feel hungry whenever you turn on the tv. Same is through when you turn on to your cravings whenever depression or boredom strikes because eating specially carbs and sugar sends a pursuit of pleasure feeling to your brain. Most likely you would feel hungry when you are bored or depressed.

1. Black coffee. You may start your day with either caffeinated of decaffeinated. Substance in the coffee can suppress hunger for half an hour up to 4 hours after consumption. Between 3 to 4 hours, the effect of coffee wore off. Decaffeinated coffee raises the hormone called peptide yy which is responsible to lower appetite and hunger. Take note that excess in taking coffee would elevate your cortisol levels and cause side effects.

2. A Cup of Tea - Green tea has much level of catechins. These are antioxidants present in green tea. Catechins helps your energy expenditure goes up by 4% therefore it increases metabolic rate. Catechins plus caffeine have more beneficial effects than caffeine alone. Green tea has both catechins and caffeine. On the other hand, drinking ginger tea has been linked to many health benefits. These include reductions in nausea, muscle pain, inflammation and blood sugar levels. It can also be an added natural beverage to suppress hunger. Be mindful that although you say that honey is an organic sweetener, it is definitely off the list because it is rich in carbohydrates which breaks your fast. You can also try moringa tea but avoid teas that have fruit in them because they have sugar, creamer on the coffee would break your fast. Green tea and black coffee helps mobilize fatty acids. Makes you feel full and bland your hunger.

3. Water. Staying hydrated would help your body to function properly. Naturally, it provides you with the electrolytes that are sufficient to get you going. Take at least 2 to 3 litters of water a day. Drinking hot or lukewarm water would be perfect for growling stomachs. This would not only keep your hunger temporarily at bay but also cleanse your system too. Drinking lemon water is a way to benefit you from flushing out toxins from your body. A tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice has a couple calories and a decent amount of potassium. Add a pinch of salt with it and it would actually be a nice way to hydrate without breaking your fast.

4. Unsweetened or Zero Calorie Gums. Chewing some of these can trick your brain that you are eating those yummy foods when you are actually not.

5. Mineral Salt. Have a pinch of salt under your tongue whenever a wave of hunger signal strike on your stomach. This would help in easing your wave of hunger.

6. Grapeseed Oil. Technically a fruit oil, grapeseed oil is high in the linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid, shown to help control hunger and reduce body fat by reducing insulin resistance. This good fat slows gastric emptying which is the reason it keeps you feeling fuller longer. Have 2 teaspoons of grapeseed oil 2 hours before lunch every day.

7. Apple Cider Vinegar. Apple cider vinegar contains an organic compound called acetic acid. Acetic acid is pre-biotic that kills bad bacteria in the body to promote good digestion.Other benefits of acetic acid includes reducing blood pressure & inflammation and boost a kick to promote weight loss. Just be reminded to purchase an apple cider vinegar that contains "the mother", labelled as raw, unfiltered, unapasteurized and organic. Dillute 1-2 tbsp of apple cider to a glass of water and take it twice a day (morning & evening) or after cheating on a meal and you decide again to go back to your intermittent fasting.

8. Stay busy. Some of the hunger pangs that strikes our body is just a psychological effect. If aside from your main meals, you usually snack whenever you’re in front of the tv or whenever you get bored, chances are you will most likely to feel hungry during these times. Since hunger is just a wave of frequency telling your brain that your body needs to be happy, you can ignore it by being productive and make yourself busy. By then, you revert your attention to your task and not your growling stomach.

9. Get The Right Amount of Sleep. Not getting the right amount of sleep causes an increase in cortisol (stress hormone) level and ghrelin (hunger hormone) . The reason why there is an increase in ghrelin is because your body is trying to compensate for the fact that it didn’t get to repair at night so it’s trying to get energy from food therefore it would be more difficult the next day to be in that fasting state.

10. Exercise before a meal. Exercise is thought to reduce the activation of brain regions linked to food cravings. It is considered to be a healthy and effective appetite suppressant specially the high-intensity workouts. Eating after a workout forces the body to burn fats at a higher rate within at least 30 to 45 minutes after workout. However, it is not advisable to do strenuous workouts during extensive fasting.

11. Trim some inch on your middle. Doing workouts to trim down your midsection is a way to reduce your appetite and hunger levels. It is said that body fats may increase production of NPY which as we mentioned earlier is a chemical messenger that controls hunger. It makes sense because most of our fats were found in our midsection. Minimizing those fats also minimizes hunger levels.

12. Avoid Stress. Being stressed spikes your level of cortisol. High level of cortisol increases your food cravings where you tend to be engaged in binging. Avoiding stressed would also be beneficial to avoid depression and obesity. Whenever you feel stressed take a small walk or practice deep breathing.

13. Eat the Right Foods During Eating Windows. During eating windows, one must not indulge on carbs as a reward when breaking their fast. It is just right to replenish yourself with the right kind of foods listed below:

Protein-rich foods and healthful fats. These include fish, eggs, lean meats, avocado, beans, nuts, soy products, greek yoghourt and cheese. Eating at least 30% of proteins of your meal could trigger an appetite reducing effect. Psyllium husk reduce appetite even for small amount of doses. It would only take a teaspoon or two to reduce appetite. 1 tsp of psyllium husk only contains 11 to 12 calories so it’s a low calorie intake for your body.

High-fiber foods. A high fiber intake stretches the stomach, slows its emptying rate and influences the release of fullness hormones. Examples of these are whole grains, beans and pulses, fruits, and vegetables. In addition, fiber can ferment in the bowel. This produces short-chain fatty acids thought to further help promote feelings of fullness.

Reducing the size of your plate can also help you unconsciously reduce your meal portions. This is likely to help you consume less food without feeling deprived. Practicing to eat less would also reduce hunger signals and appetite every now and then.

14. Eat Slowly.Under normal conditions, your brain knows whether you're hungry or full. Eating quickly or while you're distracted can make it more difficult for your brain to recognize these signals. This can help keep the focus on quality rather than quantity, and reduces binge eating behavior.

15. Eat Omega-3 FatsOmega-3 fats, particularly those found in fish and algae oils, have the ability to increase levels of the fullness hormone. So far, these effects were only observed in overweight and obese participants. More research is needed to see if the same applies in lean people.

Leptin levels are strongly associated with insulin levels and therefore if you are on a diet, make sure that you have an occasional re-feed or a 24-30 hour block of higher carb intake every week. By doing so, you allow leptin levels to rise, which helps to decrease both NPY and ghrelin while stimulating your metabolism for up to 4 days afterwards.

Every 3-6 months (if your diet lasts that long), you should probably also take a whole month off of dieting. By doing so, you allow your hunger hormones to stabilize and increase your overall metabolic rate. Just be sure to have a plan for coming off of your diet and don’t simply jump to the other extreme of over-eating. As stated throughout the article, your hunger hormones are probably increased while leptin levels are low, setting you up for a potentially disastrous outcome if not done in a systematic way.

Fighting off that hungry feeling goes beyond eating filling foods. It also involves understanding your cravings and how to fight them, and how other lifestyle choices such as sleep, exercise and stress play a role in how the body experiences hunger. Whenever you feel hungry, wait an hour or two then your hunger will come to pass and eventually, your body would adjust overtime.