Appetite fatigue is a very real state that shows that people, especially the young, the old, and the sick may actually starve to death instead of eating foods that they don't want to. The term first meant people who stopped eating because they were forced to eat the same foods over and over again until they were sick of those foods. Then despite the fact that there was still plenty of those foods around, a person would literally starve to death instead of eating those same foods yet again. Hence the word "fatigue" in the title.
It later has been used to describe ANY time that a person refuses to eat even though there is plenty of food to consume.
Appetite fatigue is actually a survival technique that humans have employed to keep their body healthy. If a person eats the same food over and over they will miss out of vitamins and minerals that a varied diet gives us. Our bodies start craving other foods so that we can get all the nutrients we need. The problem comes when there actually is no other kinds of foods to eat. Our body's cravings become stronger and stronger until it simply refuses to eat the same foods even to the point of starvation.
The other form of appetite fatigue is when our body craves comfort foods to the point of refusing to eat anything else. This usually happens in stressful situations. We want what mamma use to give us when we were scared or sick or just on happy days. We can be so hungry that we are shaking but nothing in the cupboard even looks good enough to take the bother to make. Believe it or not, this too is based on a survival technique. Our parents teach us what foods are safe to eat. By our body's refusing to eat any other foods, it protects us from eat potentially poisonous foods. So even if your brain knows that food is safe to eat, your body demands that you eat only "comfort" foods or foods it finds to be safe. This can also happen to the point of starvation.
Most studies on this are done in refugee camps where people have left their homes because of war or natural disasters. People flee for their safety but then are at the mercy of others to feed and care for them. If the foods that the others are feeding them are not what they are use to, or if these foods are served over and over and over again, the refugees may stop eating to the point of starvation even though there is still much food to go around.
This brings us to the point of storing food.
If you plan on living off your stored foods you must do two different things in the storing. First, make sure you have plenty of foods that you find to be comfortable. When you are stressed, you will need to have these foods to keep up your strength. This means if you live for sugary foods, make sure that you put up plenty of sugary foods. Yes, they may be bad for you and hopefully you will be able to wean yourself off of them, but not during times of stress. Times of stress are not times to go on diets or try to teach your body new things. Times of stress are when you make that big pot of comfort food and curl around it like a lover. It will help you through that stress situation better than most anything else.
The other thing is to make certain that you have plenty different foods. Yes, you may love chicken noodles soup, but don't can all your chicken into soup. Go through all the different foods you like and in non-stress situation start learning new foods, then add those foods to your storage. While 50 cans of your favorite salsa is great, 25 can of salsa and 10 of spaghetti sauce, 10 of pesto, and 5 of that yummy Alfredo sauce is even better. 200 lbs of corn meal is terrific, but 100 lbs of corn meal, 50 lbs of whole wheat flour, 25 lbs of potatoes, and 25 lbs of wild rice will get you through tough times even better.
Storage foods are only good if you will eat them and your body will only let you eat them if IT wants to. Sometimes a large store of food is not enough, sometimes you will need to know WHAT to store. Know your body, learn the sacred vessel you live in and what it wants. Keep it as happy as you can in stress times and it will serve you well. It is not trying to get you to starve, it is just part of the make up of being human. Enjoy it, but don't take it for granted, it is a great gift to have.
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