Do you find yourself eating all the time? Do you somehow get tempted to sneak in snacks and meals at odd hours?
Of course you appetite can increase if your periods are due or you have been doing that extra bit in the gym.
As a matter of fact hunger is something that is driven by a lot of factors that include hormones, diet, emotions and even stress.
You will want to know why you are hungry all the time, because the habit is dangerous and not good on the long run. Knowing why you have been shoving all that food in your stomach could be a caused by an underlying medical problem or a serious mental and physical issue.
Here are 10 reasons that might be causing you to eat excessively and feel hungry all the time:
1) Drinking too much alcohol
Alcohol is one of the reasons that top the list of being a reason to overeat. Alcohol not only just dehydrates the body but it also increases the levels of a certain hormone called ghrelin that is responsible to make us hungry.
Research has proved that people who skipped alcohol before and during a meal ate lesser than those who consumed alcohol before and during a meal.
2) Skipping meals
When you skip your meals, your stomach remains empty for too long due to which your body goes into fat storage mode, that increases the release of the ghrelin hormone that go into an overdrive and make you lust for food.
So when you skip that meal, you tend to overeat the next meal that comes your way.
Never skip meals. Try to eat something; it need not be anything fancy or proper. Just something to get you through the next meal without letting your body go into fat storage mode and causing you to binge.
3) Not sleeping enough
When you do not get your daily dose of sleep, you wake up feeling tired. When you are on lack of sleep you tend to over eat as the body mistakes the fatigue to be hunger related and not sleep related which is the actual reason behind the fatigue.
When you lack sleep the hormones responsible for hunger lose their balance. The hormone leptin that leaves you feeling full plunges to an all-time low and the hormone ghrelin that stimulates appetite will rise.
So when these hormones play inside you, you have no other alternative other than eat, as your body confuses fatigue and lack of sleep with hunger.
4) Not eating enough fat
Fat actually curbs hunger when eaten in moderation. There is no harm in eating healthy unsaturated fats. Fats like protein give a feeling of satiety that do not make you eat unless you are really hungry again.
Such healthy fats are found in nuts, avocado, seeds etc…
5) Exposed to food porn
For those of you who don’t know what food porn is, it is the act of constantly being bombarded by the pictures or scent of food.
In this techno crazy age, there are thousands of groups online that we subscribe to that expose us to pictures of mouthwatering delights.
Food porn only leads to the increase in the level of ghrelin that spikes up our appetite.
Viewing these pictures or getting the scent of food will only create an artificial sense of hunger with your mouth salivating and your stomach responding.
So if you are looking to lose weight, it is advisable to stay away from shows or groups on the television or internet that expose you to images or scents of food.
6) Taking on too much stress
A lot of us eat when we are stressed. The reason behind this being the fact that when we are stressed the stress hormone adrenaline and cortisol are at an all-time high that makes you think that you need energy, so land up eating when you actually should not be having an appetite.
That’s not all; stress also makes the brain release a chemical called serotonin that makes you feel hungry when you aren’t.
7) You are on certain medication
If you are under treatment for another illness, it is a possibility that the medication for that illness is causing an unwarranted appetite.
A lot of anti-depressants can affect appetite hormones and cause you to eat more than usual.
If you sense that being on a certain drug is making you eat more than do consult your doctor and ask him for alternative medication.
8) You rush through meals
When you wolf down your meals, you are not giving your brain enough time to register whether it is full or not. So when you stomach is full and still the signal has not reached your brain that it is full, you land up overeating.
Eat slowly, savouring each bite and allow yourself a gap of 20 minutes before you decide to have another helping.
9) Dehydration
Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. The hypothalamus part of the brain is responsible for signaling hunger and thirst.
So sometimes the brain gets confused and instead of making you grab a glass of water will induce you to grab a bite to eat.
So if you are feeling hungry and actually haven had much of water to drink in the day, drink a few glasses of water and wait to see if the hunger pangs pass.
10) Not enough protein in diet
Protein should be on top of the list of people who are dieting or want to remain fit.
Protein and healthy fats suppresses the appetite and keeps one feeling full. Not consuming the prescribed far or protein for the day can leave you feeling hungry all the time.
So if you have been feeling hungry all the time, hope these reasons have explained your situation.
