Hunger is a useful feeling that signals that it is time to recharge our batteries. It supports the functioning of the brain, builds muscle, allows the body to recover from exercise and stress of the day.
It is normal to feel hungry every few hours. However, it is not normal if this happens too often, although we have eaten relatively recently.
What could be the causes of hunger soon after eating?
You are not consuming enough protein
Protein breakdown takes a little longer, which delays hunger over time. If your diet does not contain enough protein, you will become hungry soon after eating.
You do not eat enough fiber
Fiber also provides satiety for longer, unlike carbohydrates, for example. Fiber-free foods pass through the digestive tract much faster, leaving you hungry again soon after eating.
Your meals are too infrequent
Avoid starvation, because it brings a lot of difficulties to the body and puts it in a state of energy saving. This causes stress levels in the body to increase. Instead, divide your meals every 3-4 hours into small portions so that you recharge with energy-bearing nutrients at the optimal time.
You have insomnia
The longer you sleep, the more energy your body will need to control all the processes in cells, tissues and organs. This confusing process leads to exhaustion and the appearance of wolf hunger, especially at night, when the body should switch to a completely different mode.
Chronic stress
When you have high levels of stress, the body prepares for war with an unknown enemy. One of the first signs of this is the frequent occurrence of hunger. The body struggles to compensate for high levels of stress and find a source of energy to help it cope. Elevated stress levels are associated with high levels of cortisol in the blood. This hormone causes the accumulation of fat instead of releasing energy after a meal, which further contributes to the frequent manifestations of hunger.
What makes us eat when we are not hungry?
You have diabetes
When diabetes is not controlled, it affects not only blood sugar but also energy in the body. Sugar is mainly used to get fast energy, but in diabetes the body believes that it is very hungry, so it wants more. At high levels of insulin in the blood (as in type 2 diabetes) there are also frequent outbursts of hunger, as again the metabolism is disrupted and no energy is released due to the accumulation of adipose tissue in reserve.
Decreased thyroid function causes weight gain. Accelerated function – weight loss. Weight loss will be followed by rapid metabolism, in which nutrients are processed too quickly, causing you to become hungry again soon after eating.
Side effects of medications
If you are taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, read their instructions carefully. Some of them can cause unexplained hunger. Most often these are antidepressants, B vitamins, contraceptives.
Different types of hunger
And how to deal with them
Does your stomach ache? Usually, when we reach the end point of hunger, where our stomachs are so scraped that we feel sick, we tend to eat a whole elephant! Or at least food equal to his weight!
Joke aside. Each extreme bears its own harm. Abuse of harmful and high-calorie foods does not lead to anything good. Excessive use of healthy products will also not preserve your figure.
People tend to turn to food at many different times. To stay slim or to be able to fit into your old jeans, see what types of hunger you need to overcome! Don’t give in to them!
Natural hunger
When you haven’t eaten for too long, natural hunger strikes like a whirlwind. It is no coincidence that people say they are hungry like a wolf. In such cases, the risks of ingesting high-calorie foods are much higher. The quantities we eat are also larger. Then it gets hard for us.
Don’t let yourself get hungry. This will prevent you from overeating.
Hunger for nutrients
Even if this wording seems complete nonsense, this kind of hunger exists. Nutrient hunger is hunger for certain groups of nutrients, such as carbohydrates.
You know how sometimes you suddenly get terribly tired of sweets. This is because women tend to exclude whole groups of nutrients, thus the body experiences a frantic hunger for them at some point.
Hunger for anxiety
This is not really a form of hunger, but a way to calm the nerves. If you do not have to deal with this type of hunger, you risk starting to gain weight uncontrollably, because you will want to eat something every time you feel bad.
Hunger from addiction
This type of hunger is associated with food addiction. It could even be classified as a mental disorder, such as anorexia. If you are addicted to food, you will turn to it every time you feel helpless and sad. In such moments, food becomes the only consolation that makes you feel good.
Hunger from boredom
Have you ever eaten something simply because you have nothing else to do? It has happened to all of us, but it gets used to the wrong diet, which leads not only to weight gain, but also to various diseases associated with overweight.
Emotional hunger
Emotional hunger is not really real hunger. In moments of sadness and hopelessness, many people tend to dull the pain with high-calorie and forbidden foods, most often various delicacies.
If you had failed in love, what would you turn to? We are sure that the massive answers would be “to chocolate” or “to ice cream”.
Visual hunger
This hunger occurs when you are not really hungry, but you get tired of something tasty only at the sight of it. Do not give in to desire. Be strong! Only with will will you fight all these types of uncontrolled eating!
