By Samantha Chabior, RD
Have you ever finished dinner and felt completely stuffed, yet suddenly found yourself standing in front of the fridge rummaging for something sweet, or at the pantry looking for some crunchy chips? You’re not alone. This is probably one of the most common challenges my clients face, and a common question they ask is “why do I feel hungry all the time?”.
Managing frequent hunger and food cravings can be a result of multiple factors, and usually it’s a combination of things that leads us to reach for a particular food. So, here’s my top list of potential contributing factors.
1. Skipping meals or going long periods without eating
This contributes to drops in blood sugar levels, and can exhaust our will power. So when we finally sit down for our dinner we’re left feeling ravenous. This is probably the most common cause of hunger, food cravings and overeating that I see with my clients.
How to overcome it: Eating three regular meals, with balanced snacks in between can be a great way to stave off hunger cravings and prevent overeating. I recommend eating every 4-6 hours and avoiding skipping meals. I also highly recommend making a meal plan for the week. It’s one of the most important ways to stay on track with a heart healthy diet. You can download my FREE weekly meal planner and grocery list here! Print it out and post it on your fridge so you know exactly what’s for dinner!
2. Eating high glycemic index foods
High glycemic index (GI) foods spike our sugar and insulin levels and then rapidly drop, contributing to a sugar and energy crash shortly after eating. Foods that are high in glycemic index tend to be referred to as “simple carbohydrates”. Some examples of simple carbs are white rice, white crackers, white bread, sugary sweets, pop and juice.
How to overcome it: Swapping out high GI foods for low GI foods (complex carbohydrates) such as whole grains, legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils), fruits and vegetables will help sustain blood sugar levels and avoid that crash shortly after eating. Looking for some snack ideas to crush that sweet tooth? Check out these 17 cholesterol friendly snack ideas for people with a sweet tooth.
3. Getting too little sleep
Did you know that lack of sleep can affect our hunger hormones? Two hormones in particular called leptin and ghrelin can be impacted by a lack of sleep. Ghrelin stimulates our hunger levels, while leptin decreases our appetite. When we don’t get enough sleep, our levels of ghrelin will spike and leptin will drop, which leads to an increase in hunger. That can lead us to feel hungry throughout the day and increase our food cravings.
How to overcome it: Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night. This can be super challenging when it comes to our busy lives. Try turning off computer and phone screens at least 1 hour before bed, avoiding caffeine late in the day, and setting a timer to go to bed as a reminder.
4. Distractions at meal times
Being distracted during meal times can result in eating food quickly and not paying attention to our food. It takes about 20 minutes for our brain to catch up with our stomach after we eat, and by not tuning in to our food while we’re eating we can completely override our bodies hunger and fullness cues.
How to overcome it: Mindful and intuitive eating are skills that you can develop to help you pay greater attention to the sensations of eating. Paying attention to how we eat, not only what we eat, can greatly enhance our enjoyment of meals and allow our mind time to catch up with our stomach. Mindful eating means slowing down and turning off distractions during meals. Turn off the TV, put away your phone, and shut down the computer so you can fully tune into the flavours, textures and smells of your food. Chew your food thoroughly, paying attention to how each bite is bursting with flavour. Try putting your fork down between each bite, and evaluate how your body is truly feeling as you eat your meal. Eating this way allows us to feel more satisfied and satiated after meals.
5. Not understanding the real reason behind our hunger
There are three different types of hunger: stomach, heart, and mouth hunger. Stomach hunger is a physical hunger that is caused by not eating for a prolonged period of time, and can feel like stomach rumbling, hunger pains, feeling weak or lightheaded. This type of hunger is a clear sign we need to eat some food! But there are other types of hunger that are triggered by other factors.
With heart hunger, stress and emotions can drive us to turn to food for comfort and distraction. Have you ever cracked open a bag of chips or cookies because you were feeling bored, anxious, or sad? Emotional eating can trigger food cravings because food brings us pleasure and can make us feel good. Rather than dealing with the trigger in a productive way, we may turn to food to self soothe.
Another driving factor behind hunger is a craving for a specific taste or texture, which can be classified as mouth hunger. Mouth hunger is a desire for something sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy etc., and is satisfied by eating a specific type of food.
How to overcome it: The next time you experience hunger, ask yourself “what is driving my hunger?”, “am I experiencing stomach, heart, or mouth hunger?”, and “what can I do to satisfy the real reason behind this hunger?”. If you’re feeling bored or stressed, can you call a friend or go for a walk? If you’re craving something sweet, can you distract yourself with a craft or reading a book, or perhaps choose something more nutritious that still satisfies your sweet tooth such as fruit? Or maybe you allow yourself to indulge that mouth hunger craving and acknowledge you’re not physically hungry, so you mindfully enjoy a piece of chocolate rather than eating the entire bar.
Hunger and food cravings can be very complex, so be patient with yourself as you work through this!
