If I eat a large meal at dinnertime, I find myself hungry again before too long. However, with a light meal the opposite is true. Can you explain this? Alicia

I'll bet it's related to blood sugar levels, which might explain why you desired a larger or smaller meal in the first place; or how you had been eating during the day: multiple snacks vs. few huge meals. Plus, the carbohydrate vs. protein/fat breakdown of the meal is significant.

This is common with Chinese food, where many people feel stuffed, then starving soon after. Such food is high in complex carbohydrates, and it moves through the system much faster than a high fat meal and/or high protein meal, which takes longer to digest.

An exception to this rule is refined white flour, which is an 'adulterated' complex carbohydrate. It has little fiber, so it can tend to plug up the system -- even to the point of causing hemorrhoids and diverticulosis.

Good Health,
A.N. Spreen, M.D.