Eating behaviors

thumb|A glass of water on an empty plateFasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after eating).

Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues and form.

thumb|The Hunger March sculptures in [[Copenhagen]]

thumb|288px|Amandines de Provence, poster by Leonetto Cappiello, 1900, which shows a woman eating almond cookies

thumb|Appealing food may provoke appetite even in the absence of hunger. Appetite is the desire to eat food items, usually due to hunger. Appealing foods can stimulate appetite even when hunger is absent, although appetite can be greatly reduced by satiety. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolic needs. It is regulated by a close interplay between the digestive tract, adipose tissue and the brain. Appetite has a relationship with every individual's behavior. Appetitive behaviour also known as approach behaviour, and consumma

alt=|thumb|323x323px|Overview of phagocytosis thumb|300px|Phagocytosis versus exocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is called a phagocyte. thumb|The engulfing of a pathogen by a phagocyte In a multicellular organism's immune system, phagocytosis is a major mechanism used to remove pathogens and cell debris. The ingested material is then digested in the phagosome. Bacteria, dead tissue ce

thumb|A female oriental latrine fly (Chrysomya megacephala) feeds on feces

thumb|Earthworms are soil-dwelling detritivores. Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants that eat detritus or carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. Detritivores should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discr

A mukbang ( , ; ; ; ) is an online broadcast in which a host consumes food (from popular fast-food restaurants or home-prepared dishes) while interacting with the audience or providing commentary. The genre became popular in South Korea in the early 2010s, and has become a global trend since the mid-2010s. Varieties of foods ranging from pizza to noodles are consumed in front of a camera. The purpose of mukbang is also sometimes educational, introducing viewers to regional specialties or gourmet spots.

thumb|300px|right|Trophallaxis in Asian-Australian weaver ant O. smaragdina, [[Thailand]] Trophallaxis () is the direct transfer of fluid and food (excreted, secreted or regurgitated) between individuals, typically through mouth-to-mouth (stomodeal) or anus-to-mouth (proctodeal) feeding. Along with nutrients, trophallaxis can involve the transfer of molecules such as proteins, hormones, organisms such as symbionts, and information to serve as a form of communication. Trophallaxis is used by some birds, gray wolves, vampire bats, and is most highly developed in eusocial insects such as ants, wa

dietary regime

thumb|Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) mother and cubs foraging in [[Denali National Park, Alaska.]] Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the environment where the animal lives.

type of eating behaviour

Trichophagia is a form of disordered eating in which persons with the disorder suck on, chew, swallow, or otherwise eat hair. The term is derived from ancient Greek θρίξ, ("hair") and φαγεῖν, ("to eat"). Tricho- refers only to the chewing of hair, whereas tricho- is ingestion of hair, but many texts refer to both habits as just trichophagia. It is considered a chronic psychiatric disorder of impulse control. Trichophagia belongs to a subset of pica disorders and is often associated with trichotillomania, the compulsive pulling out of ones own hair. People with trichotillomania often also have

thumb|right|The Colorado potato beetle will typically only feed on plants of the family [[Solanaceae.]] Oligophagy refers to the eating of only a few specific foods, and to monophagy when restricted to a single food source. The term is usually associated with insect dietary behaviour. Organisms may exhibit narrow or specific oligophagy where the diet is restricted to a very few foods or broad oligophagy where the organism feeds on a wide variety of specific foods but none other.

thumb|250x250px|Carcass of a shrew surrounded by multiple necrophages, including a blow fly and [[burying beetle.]] Necrophages (also known as carrion feeders) are animals that feed on decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses or corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat'. Many hundreds of necrophagous species have been identified including invertebrates in the insect, malacostracan and gastropod classes and vertebrates such as vultures, hyenas, quolls and wolves.

Autocannibalism, also known as self-cannibalism and autosarcophagy, is the practice of eating parts of one's own body. Generally, only the consumption of flesh (including organ meat such as heart or liver) by an individual of the same species is considered cannibalism. In line with this usage, self-cannibalism means the consumption of flesh from one's own body. While some texts use this strict definition, others use the term autocannibalism in a wider sense that includes the consumption of hair or nails from one's own body.

Overeating occurs when an individual consumes more calories than the energy that is expended via physical activity or expelled via excretion, or when they consume food past the point of satiation, often leading to weight gain and often obesity. Overeating is the defining characteristic of binge eating disorder, and it can be a symptom of bulimia nervosa.

type of animal group activity

Cecotropes (also caecotropes, cecotrophs, caecotrophs, cecal pellets, soft feces, or night feces) are a nutrient-filled package created in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that is expelled and eaten by many animals (such as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, and chinchillas) to obtain more nutrients out of their food. When food passes through the GI tract the first time, the stomach and the small intestine digest the food material, which then moves into the colon, where the food particles are sorted by size. The smaller particles of fiber are moved into the cecum where they are fermented by

biological process

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animal behavior; storage of food in hidden locations

Pagophagia (from Greek: pagos, frost/ice, + phagō, to eat) is the compulsive consumption of ice or iced drinks. It is a form of the disorder known as pica, which in Latin refers to a magpie that eats everything indiscriminately. Pica's medical definition refers to the persistent consumption of nonnutritive substances, ice in this case, for over a period of at least one month. However, different studies have included alternative definitions for pagophagia, including "daily consumption of 2–11 full glasses of ice (480–2640 g)" or "the purposeful ingestion of at least one ordinary tray of ice dai

policy forbidding feeding of wild or captive animals in some location

killing and sometimes eating of potential competitors

thumb|right|250px|Fungi are the primary decomposers in most environments, illustrated here [[Mycena interrupta.]] Saprophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant or animal biomass. They are distinguished from detritivores in that saprophages are sessile consumers while detritivores are mobile. Typical saprophagic animals include sedentary polychaetes such as amphitrites (worms of the family Terebellidae) and other terebellids.

feeding method used by humpback whales

eating in response to emotions

state of drowsiness or lassitude following a meal

Endocannibalism is a practice of cannibalism in one's own locality or community. In most cases this refers to the consumption of the remains of the deceased in a mortuary context.

hunting by chasing game

thumb|A Spotted hyena chewing a wilderbeest skeleton.|300x300px thumb|Bull cattle chewing on a bone Osteophagy is the practice of eating bones. It occurs among both carnivorous and herbiviorous animals. Among carnivores, it is an ecological niche where a species can extract more nutrition from the same food resources than competitors can, by being able to crack apart and digest bones. These adaptions may be dental, as in spotted hyenas and wolverines, or physiological and behavioral, as in bearded vultures. Among non-carnivores, the word refers to a behavior where individuals of a species cons

core motif of ecological food chains or food webs, and are an umbrella term for a variety of more specialized types of biological species interactions including prey-predator, host-parasite, plant-herbivore and victim-exploiter systems

biological process

The CRON-diet (Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition) is a nutrient-rich, reduced calorie diet developed by Roy Walford, Lisa Walford, and Brian M. Delaney. The CRON-diet involves calorie restriction in the hope that the practice will improve health and retard aging, while still attempting to provide the recommended daily amounts of various nutrients. Other names include CR-diet, Longevity diet, and Anti-Aging Plan. The Walfords and Delaney, among others, founded the CR Society International to promote the CRON-diet.

Microbivory (adj. microbivorous, microbivore) is a feeding behavior consisting of eating microbes (especially bacteria) practiced by animals of the mesofauna, microfauna and meiofauna.

type of arboreal locomotion most popularly exhibited by primates

Xenophagy (Greek "strange" + "eating") and allotrophy (Greek "other" + "nutrient") are changes in established patterns of biological consumption, by individuals or groups.