Do you always feel hungry, even after polishing off a tasty meal? Do you always snack at 3 p.m.?
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone: some people experience hunger pangs more frequently. And while there are occasionally medical reasons for this—a thyroid issue, for instance, or taking certain antidepressants that increase hunger— the culprit is likely your diet or lifestyle. That means the problem can be fixed. How?
Check out these 15 common causes of hunger pangs, and find out how small lifestyle tweaks can make you feel satisfied for longer.
You're not sleeping enough.
Lack of sleep may disrupt appetite-regulating hormones, ultimately increasing hunger, according to a 2016 report by the American Heart Association. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger, increases when you’re sleep-deprived. Leptin, the hormone that signals satiety, decreases. In addition, the more hours you spend awake, the more likely you are to nibble something from the refrigerator.
Aim to sleep about seven hours each night, and remember that blue light from your devices can negatively affect sleep. Make a rule: Screens in bed, like breakfast in bed, should be a special occasion.
You're Drinking Your Meals
Most packaged “meal replacement” shakes or fruit smoothies won’t keep you satiated for long. So, if you start every morning with a protein shake, that could explain why you're always hungry.
The reason is because liquids empty out of your stomach in less than an hour, says gastroenterologist Scott D. Levenson, M.D., director of the Digestive Care Medical Center in San Carlos, California. By comparison, solid foods take two to four hours. Second, blending foods pulverizes their fibers, so your body breaks them down faster, reducing satiety.
Listen to Mom and chew your food. A 2015 review of studies found that higher levels of “oral processing” (otherwise known as chews per bite) at a meal affect the gut hormones linked to reduced hunger and increased feelings of fullness. Try nuts in your morning Greek yogurt, jerky with your afternoon cheese snack, and al dente vegetables as a dinner side.
You're not really eating.
Maybe you’ve never liked breakfast. Or your work schedule pushes meetings through lunch. Or you just “forget” to eat. It’s time to prioritize consistent meal times. People who don’t eat regular meals have poorer diet quality, and skipping breakfast is associated with a higher intake of added sugars, according to a 2017 study published in Circulation. The same research found that eating breakfast also reduces impulsive snacking.
When you’re awake, your stomach takes about four hours to empty after a meal. If you’re hungry before then, you didn’t eat well at the preceding meal (more on that soon). If you frequently forget to eat, set a phone alarm or calendar alert.
You're drinking too much soda.
Need another excuse to cut soda out of your diet? Sodas, iced teas, and other sweetened beverages are chock full of high-fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to lower levels of satiety, according to a study conducted by Yale University.
That's because consuming fructose blocks our brain's ability to process signals from the hormone leptin, the “satiation hormone” that tells us when we’ve had enough to eat, essentially tricking our brains into craving more food, even when we’re full. So put down that ginger ale and pick up a tall glass of carbonated water instead.
Your dinner came out of a can.
Many plastic food and beverage containers contain the chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA. The Food and Drug Administration says the low levels of BPA we're exposed to are safe, but studies have shown that BPA can affect our waistlines. According to a study from 2014, BPA changes the levels of hormones leptin and ghrelin, which control hunger and satiety. A spike in these hormone levels can lead to food cravings.
You didn't have a big enough breakfast.
Your mom was right: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A cup of coffee to kickstart your day just isn't going to do it.
According to a long-term study by University of Cambridge researchers, people who ate just 300 calories for breakfast gained almost twice as much weight as those who ate 500 calories or more. The reason: Eating a big breakfast makes for smaller rises in blood sugar and insulin throughout the day, meaning you have fewer sudden food cravings. (Pro tip: adding protein to your meal by having a side of, say, turkey sausage with your eggs, also helps.)
You don't eat enough salad.
Leafy greens are high in vitamin K, an insulin-regulating nutrient that helps quash cravings. Guys should get at least 120 micrograms of vitamin K a day, which is equal to about one cup of kale.
You don't drink enough tea.
According to a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, people who drank one cup of black tea after eating high-carb foods decreased their blood sugar levels by 10 percent for a few hours after the meal, which means they stayed full for longer.
Need yet another reason to switch from coffee to tea? A 2017 study from UCLA had similar results, with researchers hypothesizing that sipping on black tea can lead to changes in the gut microbiome that can help with weight loss.
You're not drinking enough water.
Dehydration often mimics the feeling of hunger. That's because the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates hunger and thirst, can send you mixed messages when you're super thirsty, leading you to think that you need a snack even though you really just need a glass of water.
If you’ve just eaten a big meal and still want more, drink a glass of water before grabbing a second helping. You'll likely find that you don't really need that extra helping of mashed potatoes after all.
You're bored.
Yup, seriously: boredom is a major contributing factor to weight gain. In fact, a 2015 study found a link between susceptibility to boredom and overeating. To test yourself to see if you're truly hungry, imagine a huge, sizzling steak. If you’re truly hungry, the steak will seem appealing. But if that doesn’t seem tempting, chances are you’re in need of a distraction, not another meal.
You're hitting up happy hour way too often.
We already know that alcohol is bad for your waistline. But in addition to being full of empty calories, booze could be tricking your brain into thinking you're hungry when you're actually not.
In a 2017 study, researchers fed mice alcohol and found that it triggered specific brain neurons that causes a desire to eat. That said, since the study was conducted on animals and not on people, scientists are still trying to determine if it has the same effect on humans.
You're stressed as hell.
Having an incredibly stressful day at work? That could have a huge impact on your desire to eat (that's why stress eating is such a thing). When the day's worries weigh you down, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which can cause cravings for sugary, fattening or salty foods so you have the fuel to handle whatever threats come your way.
Luckily, you can tackle these cravings by keeping healthy snacks on hand and exercising to reduce anxiety.
You spend too much time looking at food porn.
All that time ogling fattening foods on Instagarm could be the cause of your cravings. A review of studies from 2016 published in the journal Brain and Cognition posited that food porn on social media could be making us "visually hungry." In one study analyzed in the review, researchers found that obese people's brains reacted more powerfully to food photos, even if they weren't currently hungry, compared to people who were at a healthy weight. So if you're predisposed to wanting that juicy burger, it's probably not a good idea to look at pictures of it.
You're not eating enough protein
Pick up a breakfast wrap or two from the drive-thru and you’ll stay full till lunch, right? Nope. Though they have some protein, most fast-food breakfast wraps are empty carbs. This is also why you can slam an entire order of pad thai at lunch and still be hungry after eating.
At every meal, aim to eat about 30 grams of protein—a quantity that will increase satiety (your body’s feeling of fullness post meal), according to Purdue University researchers in 2015.
You're not eating enough fiber, either
Fiber also boosts satiety at meals. Ideally, you should consume at least 10 grams per meal. “That amount of fiber will slow emptying from the stomach and contribute to satiety,” says Levenson.
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