Photo: allanpat, sxu.hu

Hunger is a helpful little signal. It's the body's way of telling us when it needs food. Granted, we find all sorts of ways of short-circuiting that hunger signal. When we're bored or stressed, emotions can make us reach for food even when we don't need it, and if we don't slow down while eating, we can often overeat. So it would stand to reason that, if you ate slowly (giving your body time to feel full) and controlled emotional eating, you would never overeat, right? For some people, it's not as simple as that.

Hyperphagia happens when a person's hunger rages out of control and the body doesn't indicate fullness as it normally should. Associated with rare conditions such as Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), hyperphagia can cause a person to overeat excessively -- even sneaking or stealing food in an attempt to satisfy their unstoppable hunger. About 4,500 Americans are diagnosed with PWS, but experts believe that undiagnosed cases would raise the total to nearly 30,000.

Ghrelin, a natural hormone that plays a role in hunger, has long been suspected as a culprit in hyperphagia. And scientists are continuing to study ghrelin and other possible factors behind hyperphagia. Detangling the complicated mystery that is PWS and hyperphagia could have a positive impact on the greater population as well. While true hyperphagia is relatively rare, understanding the medical causes of the problem could also help researchers in the study of obesity.

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Got foods that make you overeat? I do. Crackers do it to me every time. Doesn't need to be that way, say the FitSugar folks, who happen to have a nifty little trick for minimizing the binge.

Check out what our fit friends have to say about serving sizes and savoring those tasty morsels you love so much.

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Eating too much has some uncomfortable side effects. I'm sure you are acquainted with them -- too-tight pants, that uncomfortably full feeling, the possibility of embarrassing gas ...

But eating binges aren't actually dangerous, are they? According to the New York Times, they could be -- they could be deadly, even. According to Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, "Overeating will make your body work harder. The extra digestive workload demanded by a food binge requires the heart to pump more blood to the stomach and intestines. Heavy consumption of fatty foods can also lead to changes that cause blood to clot more easily."

Yeesh, that sounds pretty serious. This Christmas, eat until you're full and stop there. Nobody wants to witness a Christmas-day fatality.

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The holiday season is in full swing, which means that you need to keep a sharp eye out for holiday diet traps.

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Talk about a double whammy. I'm sure that people who overeat know that they're obviously taking in more calories than they need. That's a given. But researchers are now saying that excessive amounts of calories can actually throw off your metabolism, too. It's a total vicious cycle.

Researchers have identified an area in the hypothalamus (an area of the brain responsible for metabolism and other processes). Overeating triggers an abnormal response in this part of the brain. In return, the abnormal response can promote even more overeating.

So far, the research has only been conducted on mice but researchers strongly feel the findings will apply to humans as well. Researchers also feel that a proper diet and consistent exercise can correct the abnormal response.

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Goodness knows I've done it. I'm a terrible emotional eater and, if I don't stop to think, I can easily find myself digging in the cupboard for food. Not to satisfy hunger, but in a futile effort to stuff down some other emotion. (I'm not proud, but there's the truth.) Even if you don't emotionally eat, it's easy to overeat when sitting down to watch a movie and the over-sized bucket of popcorn is right in front of you.

To stop overeating, you have to understand your triggers. AOL Body has some great tips about overeating. Some of the causes:

• Environment. Restaurants invite you to relax, enjoy the environment, and usually order more. Fast food joints super-size your quick meals. Buffets let you eat all you can. Don't succumb to the environment and eat more than you normally would.
  
• Eating by association. You turn on the TV and it's time to snack, right? No! You're supposed to eat when you're hungry, not because your activity dictates it.
  
• Portion distortion. Our eyes play a big role in what we eat. If your plate is over-sized, don't be fooled into thinking the whole plate needs to be filled.

For more causes of overeating and tips on how to stop, check out the AOL Body slideshow.

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Go to the grocery store hungry and you're bound to crave everything in sight. Blame your "Mmm" hormone, says new research that names the natural molecule ghrelin the responsible party.

Why ghrelin? Because it improves perception and memory when it comes to food. When hunger strikes, watch out, because ghrelin makes the brain find just about every food appealing, sending us on a path to diet destruction.

Researchers have long known that ghrelin, a hormone secreted in the gut, rises and falls before and after meals. Now they're learning that this "Mmm" hormone has even more power -- it causes hunger and encourages eating.

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We have a saying around my house -- "don't serve up Army-sized portions, just you-sized portions." It's a saying born of necessity. My healthy, athletic son has a tendency to skip lunches and then overeat at night. Overeat to the point that he's sick. During the day I have to remind him to eat and at night I have to make sure he stays reasonable. Luckily, he likes fruits and veggies so it's easy to have him stick to healthy foods, but I want to help him learn healthier eating patterns. He's energetic enough now that he easily burns off any extra calories, but as he grows up his metabolism likely couldn't handle his evening gorge-fests.

I think we all have overeaten from time to time. Goodness knows I have. We take a bit too much from the buffet line, go back for second helpings of a delicious dish, or cut an extra large slice of dessert because it looks so good. Eating past the point of hunger isn't nutritionally necessary. So how do you stop overeating?

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When did children start getting so much darn candy for Valentine's Day? What happened to just passing your friends a little card in a little envelope? Seriously, it rivaled Halloween around here, and that's saying something. I finally threw it away today, not because my kids were bugging me for it (out of sight, out of mind), but because every time I walked through the kitchen I caught myself reaching for one of those foil covered hearts.

According to Healthbolt, a new study out of Cornell University found people ate 50% less when they could see the evidence of their binge, whether it was candy bars or chicken wings. Apparently, being able to see how much you're eating helps your brain register the amount. So the next time you find yourself poised to overeat, save your wrappers and see if you can put the brakes on that binge.

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You can bet that when our parents and grandparents were growing up, the grocery store wasn't full of low-fat, omega-3-enriched, antioxidant-infused foods. In those days, 100-calorie packs would be seen for what they are -- a rip-off. Things were what they were, without flashy labels and empty promises. And yet, with all the low-fat food in our grocery stores, the population as a whole is much heavier than we were even a few decades ago. These so-called health foods aren't doing much for our health, it appears. Which brings up a very interesting question: Are they what's making us fat?

A new study shows that if you view an item as healthy, you tend to overeat said item. So while it might not be the item itself that's making you fat, it's your perception of it. This is understandable -- when I have butter in the fridge, I don't use it nearly as liberally as I would olive oil, even though the two items probably have roughly the same amount of calories.

So here are some things to keep in mind: Fat-free doesn't mean calorie-free. Healthy fats are better for you, but they have just as many calories as unhealthy fats. And just because the commercial says it's a healthy choice, chances are it's not. Be your own diet detective.

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This sounds too good to be true, so it probably is. But scientists think they may have found the secret to "weight loss in a pill."

Apparently all this excitement is due to a drug that has been developed that revs up the metabolism in mice, much the same as physical activity would. The mice are able to eat as much of a high-fat, high-calorie diet as they want and they don't gain weight.

Now what works in mice doesn't always work in people (so I wouldn't get your hopes up), and that doesn't even consider possible side-effects and health complications something like this might cause. And I'm wondering: if this revs up the body as if it were working out, does that mean I'll be sitting on my couch breathing heavy and sweating profusely while watching TV? Ugh, no thanks.

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While buffets are tempting because of the low cost bargains and all you can eat amounts, ordering food from a menu can be much safer to eat. Other common sense rules to follow when going into a restaurant is to look at the overall cleanliness of the establishment and the hygiene of the people working there and that should give you a clue that foods are being handled properly and things are safe to eat. If you are in a state where health inspection grades have to be publicly displayed, be sure to check out their last inspection grade. A low score means it might not be that safe to eat there.

Unlike menu ordered food being prepared per order and coming out hot and fresh, buffets have foods resting in steam tables, ice baths, or salad bars. If improperly tended, these buffet stations can allow disease causing bacteria and viruses to flourish. Customers can come into contact with food on buffets including unattended children that might be tempted to poke a finger into the cake. And not to put down children, I have witnessed many an adult picking up food with their fingers instead of tongs or sneezing and coughing over the food. Pay attention to the warning signs that food is being neglected if you see dried out chicken or browned wilted salad. Another key thing to think about is if you are trying to diet and lose weight it is easier to stay on plan if you order from a menu. If you eat from a buffet, you will tend to over eat and break away from your diet plan.

In one day I once ate an entire box of those cheap cherry cordial chocolates they have in all the drugstores around this time of year...for some reason I just couldn't resist, and I felt bad about it for days! Truth is we all mess up sometimes on our diets, whether it's an intentional "cheat day" or a binge that snuck up on us from behind. And of course, this time of year is one of the worst, with all the homemade and store-bought goodies tempting us from every direction. At work, at home -- it seems impossible to resist it all.

Well I'm not one to resist it all, that's for sure! I try to pick and choose when to indulge, and sometimes I do better than other times. For those "other times" when guilt sets in, iVillage.com has created a place to confess your dieting slip-ups, and then leave them behind. Find comfort and comraderie reading through the other dieting confessions, and then add yours to the list and move on -- guilt free!

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