Have you ever sat with a friend during a mid-afternoon break and watched them eat just one cookie, while you’re trying to stop yourself from devouring the bagful? 

Or been at a buffet with someone who has only one serving of the main course and doesn’t go back for more? Maybe you know someone who never gains weight, even though they eats as much as you (so unfair!). 

Or you have that friend who loses weight even when upset, because they ‘stress starves’ rather than stress eats. 

It turns out the reason these people have different eating behaviours to you is because they demonstrate different types of hunger and/or metabolism from yours.

Yes, there are different types of hunger! 

Dr Andres Acosta, MD, PhD, is the director of the Precision Medicine for Obesity Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He and his team have identified various observable characteristics (i.e., phenotypes) that contribute to the way people feel hungry (take in calories) or use energy (burn off calories). *1 

Using a combination of eating studies, imaging and various questionnaires in a group of 450 people with a BMI >30 kg/m2, they were able to distinguish four different ‘obesity phenotypes’ that contribute to being overweight. Three of them relate to energy intake and one to energy expenditure.

Hungry Brain – where you don't feel full in a normal way, so you keep eating well after everyone else stops. 

Hungry Gut – Abnormal Satiety, where you have a meal and stop eating because you feel full, but an hour or two later you want to eat a whole lot more.

Emotional Hunger – ‘Emotional Eaters turn to food to get through the stresses of life or to reward themselves. 

Slow Burn - relates to Energy Expenditure. People who seem to gain weight, even if they eat the same number of calories as their slimmer friends because they have a lower resting energy expenditure. 

If you’re on a weight loss journey, it makes sense to try to figure out which obesity phenotype you seem to be, even if it’s more of a guestimate than the scientific approach that Dr. Acosta uses.
• If you’re the Hungry Gut or Hungry Brain phenotype, GLP-1 agents like Calocurb should be helpful. 
• If you experience Emotional Hunger or seem to be a Slow Burner, you’ll likely benefit from additional support, such as behavioural therapy and a monitored exercise program, or alternative medications.  

And of course you can be a combination of several types. Raising your awareness about which type of hunger you most relate to, is an essential first step toward whatever meaningful changes you decide to implement as a result.  

Click here to take the Quiz created by Calocurb to find out what's your hunger type.

Medical Study reference:
*1. Acosta A, Camilleri M, Abu Dayyeh B, et al. Selection of antiobesity medications based on phenotypes enhances weight loss: A pragmatic trial in an obesity clinic [published correction appears in Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Sep;29(9):1565-1566. doi: 10.1002/oby.23236] [published correction appears in Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022 Jul;30(7):1521. doi: 10.1002/oby.23498]. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021;29(4):662-671. doi:10.1002/oby.23120