"have no idea when they've eaten enough food and often don't stop eating until they're in pain"

Our hunger / satiety feelings are driven hormonally by hormones called ghrelin and leptin. Ideally, those two take care of a perfect equilibrium.

If something messes this self-balancing mechanism up, feelings of hunger and satiety may no longer respond to actual caloric intake - a recipe for a slow-motion disaster.

Worth noting that satiety (to a large degree controlled by leptin) is triggered much more by fat than by other macro nutrients. So white rice, and all other carbs, are worse on that axis too - high in calories but not very filling, thus promoting overeating. The decades of war on fat have contributed to people indulging in these foods.

Why do you think this? I've never seen a satiety index that scores butter over white rice.

You can resolve this for yourself experimentally. Or just look at the math (pulled from google's nutrition facts):

Eat two cups of cooked white rice, ~412 calories, 316 g.

A day later with the same starting conditions, eat 316 g of butter, or ~2,265 calories. I bet you're going to feel way more full after eating the same "amount" of butter vs rice.

As for 500 calories of rice vs 500 calories of butter, hopefully someone else can chime in with references, but again, do the experiment for yourself: how soon after eating an entire meal of rice vs butter do you find yourself getting hungry? This is complicated by what kind of macro ratios a given person's gut is used to, but generally, I find myself ready for more after the rice much sooner.

Wow! So butter is healthier than white rice?

Satiety has nothing to do with health. As well, one is going to affect your blood glucose, and the other might mess with your arteries. It's not such a black and white healthier or not. It also depends on your body, for example, if you are in ketosis you will process that fat differently.

You may know this, but, white rice has one of the highest glycemic indexes (along with white bread). High GI foods tend to be addictive, in that spikes in blood sugar are sort of a double whammy, the sharp rise help cultivate future cravings (the body produces dopamine in anticipation of big “positive” effects in the body, in this case to help encourage finding similar high calorie food stores in the future), while the almost immediate drop in blood sugar is a signal that we’re hungry, despite possibly having a too full belly, and already having a high baseline blood sugar level.

As to the rest of your comment, yeah, associative memories are a bitch when it comes to compulsive behaviors. I personally have to keep things out of the house otherwise I too would always eat popcorn and candy with every movie...

I have been one of those "Experience coupling" eaters (eating while reading) and decided to try and experiment on myself last month. I decided to no longer eat while reading, watching TV, browsing my phone, etc.

I noticed I ate much less than I would usually eat, enough to stick to 1500 calories a day rather easily.

please note: sushi rice is not just plain white rice. Sushi rice often has sugar added to it, that's a big part of what makes it so addictive. And then, in the sushi itself, they often add oils, mayonaise (also made from oils), and sugary syrups on top too.

> Sushi rice often has sugar added to it

I know since it was homemade!

I'm glad I didn't become diabetic.