A complex array of interacting factors regulates your appetite. The “appetite centers” in your brain consolidate and analyze neurological, hormonal, mechanical and psychological signals, and there your conscious awareness of hunger is born.

Your regular eating habits influence your metabolism, which influences your digestion of food. You trigger temporary changes in your metabolic rate when you eat more, or less, than usual. Thin people, for example, boost their metabolism when they overeat, and obese people slow theirs when they diet.

Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree and are grown primarily in dry, arid regions, such as the Middle East and parts of California. Though dates are often used as an ingredient in sweets and other recipes, they offer several nutritional benefits when eaten fresh and pitted.

Just a few changes in your diet can make a big difference in the balance of sodium and potassium in your body, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Fruit may be a staple of a healthy breakfast, however, eating fruit in the morning may not be beneficial for people with certain types of medical conditions. People diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes will have higher-than-normal fasting blood sugar levels in the morning.

If your visits to the bathroom are sporadic at best, your bowel habits might fall within the definition of constipation. With this condition, you have no more than three bowel movements per week.

Practicing portion control can help you learn to be satisfied eating less food, which can help you both physically and financially.

If you're struggling with trying to get your cholesterol numbers down, you're not alone. Seventy-one million Americans have high LDL cholesterol, and only 1 out of every 3 have their condition under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When preparing for a bodybuilding competition, you need to enter a "cutting phase" during which you attempt to lower your body-fat levels while maintaining your muscle mass. Ideally, you should start to do this well in advance of your contest, to make sure that you have time to get to your desired standard.

Beets are a nutritious root vegetable that have slightly bitter, flavorful leaves and sweet bulbs. Prepare beet greens as you would prepare spinach or kale -- by boiling, sautéing or microwaving. Select fresh beets with crisp greens to get the best flavor and the most nutrients.

"Don't eat after 8 p.m." "Eat dinner by 7 p.m." "No snacking after 9 p.m." There are plenty of variations of the myth that eating at night is especially fattening; however, calories affect your body the same any time of day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point out.

If you become nauseated or lightheaded when you don't eat, you may be experiencing hypoglycemia, a condition characterized by abnormally low blood sugar. In mild cases, hypoglycemia is relatively benign and easy to treat.