6 Reasons Why You Can’t Stop Eating
(And What You Can Do About It)
It’s barely past 3 p.m., Sarah’s on her ninth trip to the kitchen for yet another snack, mumbling to herself “Why can’t you stop eating?!” Followed by “This insatiable hunger better not last for the rest of my life.” Sarah ate her regular breakfast and typical lunch, so what makes today’s appetite any different than yesterday?
Sure, hunger varies day to day, that’s natural, but this new ravenous appetite may actually be an indication of other factors in the body…and life.
1. Leptin Sensitivity
If you feel like there isn’t a food on the planet that would make you feel full or if you feel like once you start eating it’s difficult to stop, you may be suffering from leptin insensitivity. Leptin is the hormone that tells us when we are satisfied. A leptin insensitivity occurs when our bodies don’t properly respond to the presence of leptin and has been linked to obesity. We end up constantly eating because our hunger signals are never turning off.
What You Can Do About Leptin Sensitivity:
Supplement Your Diet. There are supplements or nutraceuticals we can use to support our body’s leptin sensitivity. Ingredients like chromium[1], white kidney bean extract, Lepticore®[2] and bitter melon fruit extract make a great formula.
Brushing Your Teeth. If you feel like you are susceptible to cravings after eating certain foods, try brushing your teeth with a minty toothpaste to neutralize your tastebuds. The new minty taste may be effective in dampening your cravings and signal to your body that you’re done eating.
2. Low Blood Sugar
Another common factor leading to constant hunger is low blood sugar. Low blood sugar occurs when we don’t eat enough (think calorie restriction) or go for extended periods of time without eating at all (skipping meals by accident or on purpose). When our blood sugar is low, our hunger signals fire on high and we become desperate for food, especially for carbs and sugar. We might have that ravenous feeling, making it difficult for us to stop stuffing our faces.
What You Can Do About Low Blood Sugar:
Eating Nutritious Foods. Getting your necessary nutrients throughout the day to keep our blood sugar levels even and in a middle range, is a good way to keep our bodies from becoming excessively hungry.
Implementing Hunger Ratings. Before and after eating, check-in with your physical hunger/satisfaction. We’ll score it on a scale from 1–10: 1 being ravenously hungry, 5 is satisfied/content and 10 is OMG, I’m so full; I have to unbutton my pants. Remember, this is about physical hunger. This practice helps us determine the intensity of our hunger and gain a better understanding of how to satisfy it. If you are also journaling, include these ratings in your entries.
3. Lack of Nutrition
If you know me, or listen to my podcast, you’ve heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again: we are a country of people who are overfed and undernourished. The body uses signals like hunger and thirst to tell us it needs something. If we are eating food that’s not providing nutrients, our bodies are going to ask us for more food to try to get what it needs. If you were to satisfy your hunger with some chips, you will likely be hungry again shortly thereafter because you never gave your body the vitamins, minerals, or nutrients it needed.
What You Can Do About Lack of Nutrition:
Choose Nutritious Foods. Make sure we are not only eating enough food on a frequent basis, but that the food we choose is nutritious. Again, as I always say, “protein and fiber at every meal, makes removing fat no big deal.” Make it a clean, lean protein source and fiber is vegetables and sometimes fruit.
Journaling. Try to keep track of what and when you are eating, and how you feel after eating. This is a great way to help you understand your emotional eating tendencies, the last time you ate, and if you are including enough nutritious foods in your diet.
4. Sensory Specific Satiety
Don’t let the big words intimidate you. This is actually a very simple phenomenon. Many people look forward to eating because of the delicious tastes they get to experience. It’s also normal that we get into routines and habits of eating mostly the same foods. Ever notice that after a while of eating the same thing, it’s not really satisfying? Or maybe you’re eating more of it in order to feel satisfied? It’s pretty common and this phenomenon is known as sensory specific satiety. If you notice that your portion sizes are growing in an effort to feel satisfied, consider if you are bored with what you are eating.
What You Can Do About Sensory Specific Satiety:
Mix Up Our Food Choices. To add some variety into our diet and ward off sensory specific satiety, we could focus on shopping for and adding seasonal foods into our diet. With foods constantly coming in and out of season, this could be a great way to add variety. We can also use different spices and variations to create our favorite recipes. For example, the ways to make chicken salad are nearly endless. Try replacing the mayo with mashed avocado and dill for a fun spin on the classic recipe. Incorporating a list of foods that we will eat (with our favorite foods to our least favorite) and then dividing that list into several smaller, separate lists, can help keep our grocery lists fresh and unique by helping rotate the foods we are buying. You could even consider shopping from a different grocery store which will force you to look at each item and you may notice something you enjoy and haven’t had recently.
Use Smaller Plates. If you’re a fill-up-your-plate and clean-plate-club kind of person, no need to change your style, maybe grab a smaller plate. This isn’t specific to sensory specific satiety, but it can help trick the eye and the mind; we perceive that we are getting bigger portions.
5. Lack of Sleep
Especially since the pandemic began, most notice an increase in screen time and a decrease in precious hours of sleep. We can attribute this to a variety of factors but notably to blue light exposure. The blue light from our phones, laptops, TVs, etc., signals to our eye and therefore our brain and bodies that it’s daylight and time to be awake. So when we relax before bed with TV and then get the munchies, it’s no coincidence! Our bodies send those hunger signals because they are looking for fuel to give us the energy to stay awake. When in reality, we actually just need sleep.
What You Can Do About Lack of Sleep:
Set a Good Environment. Turning off the TV shortly before bed and using lamps instead of bright overhead lights are both helpful signals to our body that it is time to sleep.
Prioritize sleep! This one is pretty self-explanatory. Make sure you are being mindful of the amount of sleep you are getting… your body will thank you for it.
6. Trying to Fill a Non-hunger Need
Lastly, we must be cognizant of why we are hungry. This reason is somewhat similar to reason #5. If you are experiencing unexplained hunger, you may be looking for food to fulfill a non-hunger need. For example, many people feel hungry when they are actually thirsty, stressed, tired, lonely, bored or even procrastinating.
What You Can Do About Trying to Fulfill a Non-hunger Need:
Be Mindful. Think of why you are hungry in the first place. Check in with your belly…are you truly physically hungry? Does broccoli sound good? If yes, have a snack. If the only thing that sounds good is a cookie, donut, chips, etc. think about what else might be going on. Perhaps you want to go for a walk, take a break or call a friend instead.
Track Your Water Intake. Similar to how we may try to eat to compensate for lack of sleep, make sure you’re not eating to compensate for a lack of water. Track your water intake so you are mindful of how much water you are drinking. That way, you won’t fall victim to confusing thirst with hunger.
Implement Hunger Ratings. If you notice that you’re often eating even though your hunger level is not indicating physical hunger, hunger ratings are an objective way to see if we’re using food to fill a non-food void. From there, we can start to explore what those instances have in common to find the patterns.
If you feel like you cannot pin-down which reason may be giving you grief, I have a solution that works for any scenario: take a pause. If you implement all other tips and nothing’s working for you, just take a moment to assess why you are feeling hungry. Eating may just be a short lived relief. We need to figure out what we can do to address the actual problem and find long-term relief. Ask yourself questions like: Are you getting enough protein and/or fiber? What are you actually looking for? Are you trying to use food as an escape? Has your activity level changed dramatically? Everyone feels excessive hunger for different reasons. Analyzing why you aren’t feeling satisfied will help tremendously in allowing you to find your reasons.
Whether it be leptin sensitivity, a lack of nutrition, or just plain boredom, there are a number of factors which could be contributing to constant hunger. The good news is, with a little extra effort and some mindfulness, we can significantly decrease those days of insatiable hunger. Remember, it is okay if, occasionally, we feel like we are having a day where we just can’t stop eating. It happens to the best of us! It’s often expected and is not something to feel shameful of or beat ourselves up about. However, the next time we find ourselves spending days in the kitchen, scouring the cabinets for another post-lunch snack, and that internal monologue starts to go, we will be prepared to understand what it is our body is telling us and how to successfully meet those needs!
[1] Anderson, R. Effects of chromium on body composition and weight loss. Nutrition Reviews. 56(9): 266–270, 1998.
[2] Kuate, D., et al. The use of LeptiCore in reducing fat gain and managing weight loss in patients with metabolic syndrome. Lipids in Health and Disease. 9: 1–7, 2010.
