5 Factors Affecting Your Hunger Levels
At its most basic form hunger is a way our bodies way to tell us it needs food for energy. So it makes sense that often people use hunger as a way to determine if they are eating in a surplus, maintenance or deficit:
Never hungry? Surplus.
Alway hungry? Deficit.
Hungry just at the right time before a meal? Maintenance
If only it were that simple.
Often I have clients come to me with no appetite at all, totally out of synch with their bodies. It's not that they are eating in a surplus at all - simply that their lifestyle is so out of whack their body and their brain are totally disconnected and their hormones all over the place.
Or I have people claiming they eat in a deficit all the time because they are always super hungry but not loosing weight - yet it's more that they aren't sleeping well, opting for high energy dense foods that do nothing to satiate and have super high stress levels to boot.
My top 5 things that can therefore play havoc with your hunger levels - without changing your calorie intake at all are:
One: Sleep
Generally if you are tired you are hungry - we all know what that feels like right? And it’s been proven…
One bad nights sleep can raise your hunger level grehlin by up to 28% according to one study.
Not only that but not sleeping well can pay havoc with your circadian rhythm which controls hormonal rhythms, so if your sleep is all over the place more than likely your hunger will be too.
Two: Not Eating Enough
Eating below the bodies requirements for a prolonged period of time can cause the body to adapt to the new 'norm', down-regulating metabolism and stopping you feeling hungry.
You may think this is great, but not getting hungry means you are less likely to eat at regular times and be more sporadic with your food choices and timings which can play havoc with your hunger levels.
Three: Your Diet Is Too Full Of High Calorie Foods
People who eat a diet in foods low in energy density but high in volume tend to feel fuller longer. One study found those people had lower levels of ghrelin and higher levels of Peptide YY, an appetite suppressant hormone.
The more you fill your diet with high density foods like cereal bars, bread and cakes the more likely you are to feel hungry quicker.
This doesn’t mean you should abstain from eating them completely, but being conscious of how much and the time of day you have them could really help have more balanced hunger and energy in the day. Aim to apply the 80/20 rule and avoid reaching for high cal foods when energy levels crash or as a replacement to a meal.
Four: You Are Not Managing Your Stress
Acute stress can be an appetite killer, but when it becomes chronic, it can lead to cravings for comfort foods that can help counteract stress
This gives the impression of 'hunger' even when our body doesn't require the extra calories.
If you are eating high calorie foods when you are stressed and your mind is elsewhere you could even ‘forget’ you’ve eaten - throwing out meal times and hunger levels.
Five: You Are Not In Tune With Your Body
When people claim not to have an appetite at all it's not a good thing! And is often a big warning sign something isn't right.
Often it's a case of simply not 'tuning in' to your bodies natural clock, rhythm and signals.
Become consistent with when you eat first, & start trying to tap into your body cues second.
Hunger levels can be a great tool to use to determine deficit levels, used alongside other data and feedback too (such as average scale weight, energy, types of food eaten and all lifestyle metrics) - but isn't something that should be taken as a stand alone.
If you feel your hunger levels are all out of whack focus on your lifestyle first and get consistent with what and when you eat and soon enough your body should start to re-regulate and get back to giving you the right signals.