Homeostasis a stable internal environment which is critical for mammals survival (see Wenning,

1999). Set-point systems combine negative feedback with a set point to keep an internal
environment fixed at the prescribed point. According to Woods, the key to understanding hunger
is to appreciate that eating meals stresses the body. Before a meal, the body s energy reserves are
in reasonable homeostatic balance; then, as a meal is consumed, there is a homeostasis disturbing
influx of fuels into the bloodstream. The body does what it can to defend its homeostasis. At the
first indication that a person will soon be eating for example, when the usual mealtime
approaches the body enters the cephalic phase and takes steps to soften the impact of the
impending homeostasis disturbing influx by releasing insulin into the blood and thus reducing
blood glucose. Woods s message is that the strong, unpleasant feelings of hunger that you may
experience at mealtimes are not cries from your body for food; they are the sensations of your
body s preparations for the expected homeostasis-disturbing meal.
The leaky-barrel model: a settling-point model of eating and body weight homeostasis.
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