Your appetite rests on a simple set of principles: When you’re hungry, you eat, and when you eat, you become full. It’s a predictable pattern—but what happens when it stops working, and you feel hungry even after eating?
“It’s normal to feel that your appetite fluctuates a little day to day, but if you’re noticing a persistent sense of hunger after every meal, even when you think you’ve eaten enough, I’d recommend a quick audit of any other lifestyle factors or life stressors that might be in play,” Maddie Pasquariello, MS, RDN, who runs the Brooklyn-based practice Nutrition With Maddie, tells SELF. Many, but not all, of these factors can result in food noise—“compulsive and often disruptive thoughts about food,” she explains. “Cravings and compulsions around food can be distracting, and even if you think you’ve eaten enough, your body might not feel fully satisfied or satiated.”
Here’s a detailed rundown of some of the physical and psychological forces that could be behind your ongoing postprandial hunger—and how to tackle each of them. Whatever the cause, “it’s important you don’t completely ignore what’s going on,” Pasquariello says.
Why you might feel hungry even after eating
1. You have a medical condition or take a medication that increases your appetite
How this works: Certain meds can heighten your sense of hunger and overall desire to eat, Pasquariello says. These include a range of psychiatric meds, such as the antidepressants amitriptyline, citalopram, mirtazapine, nortriptyline, trimipramine, paroxetine, and phenelzine; the antipsychotics olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine; and the mood stabilizers lithium, valproic acid, divalproex sodium, carbamazepine, and lamotriginelithium, which are commonly used to treat bipolar disorder. Similarly, certain medical conditions and symptoms can also impose consistent hunger, including hypothyroidism, PMS, and perimenopause.
What to do about it: In addition to basic healthy-lifestyle pillars—eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, staying physically active, getting enough sleep, and managing stress—prioritizing veggies and high-fiber whole grains, keeping your pantry stocked with healthy options, and sticking to a regular eating schedule can all help cushion the impact, according to the BC Children’s Hospital in Canada. If nothing helps and you’re not willing to tolerate this side effect, you can also speak to your doctor about your options, like switching to an alternative medication that might be a better fit or starting another one that could counterbalance it, per Harvard Health.
2. You didn’t eat enough
How this works: Obviously, the amount of food you eat is the main driver behind your sense of fullness, so it’s possible the amount you ate wasn’t sufficient—especially since your calorie needs aren’t fixed. “What feels sufficient for your body one day might fluctuate the next, depending on how active you have been, your workout style, and other factors. And what’s sufficient for one person is going to be completely different for someone else,” Pasquariello says. Cardio exercises like running, swimming, and cycling tend to bestow a bigger burn than strength training exercises like weight-lifting, for example. Besides physical activity, pregnancy and breastfeeding can also significantly boost your calorie needs.
What to do about it: While calorie-counting isn’t something we typically recommend, tracking your food intake and macro breakdown could be helpful for sussing out patterns in this case, according to Pasquariello. You might realize you’re “under-eating at certain meals, leading to unpredictable hunger levels later in the day,” Pasquariello says. In addition to monitoring your stats, you can also consider tacking on a nutrient-dense snack to every meal to add a little more bulk. That’s “a great place to start,” Pasquariello says. If calorie counting is triggering for you, or something you’re not interested in pursuing for any reason, we recommend reaching out to a registered dietitian who can help you ID patterns and tailor your meal prep.
3. You ate too fast
How this works: Miraculous as our bodies are, they’re not always perfectly synched. When it comes to your appetite, “it does take some time for your brain to catch up with your stomach,” Rebecca Ditkoff, MPH, RD, a certified intuitive eating counselor and the owner of the New York City-based private practice Nutrition by RD, tells SELF. In turn, “it can take a little bit of time for us to feel our fullness.” (Around 20 minutes, to be specific.) If you’re still hungry after eating, it could simply be that you haven’t waited long enough for that satiation to kick in.
What to do about it: Wait ten to 20 minutes after eating as a buffer period and check in with your body then, according to Ditkoff. That way, those satiation signals will have a bigger window in which to reach their destination.
4. You waited too long to eat
How this works: If you let more than a few hours elapse between meals, “you may find that your body isn’t completely full after eating an amount that’s typical for you,” Pasquariello says. In her experience, this issue often crops up when people skip breakfast (guilty as charged) and take their first bites around midday: “By this time, you’re ravenous…so you might feel like no matter how much you eat, you don’t feel full.”
What to do about it: Space your meals out more evenly rather than leaving long stretches of time in between—and definitely don’t skip breakfast! “It’s also okay if you’re someone who prefers to eat more than three meals a day”—like five to six smaller meals in lieu of three bigger ones—“especially if this is what works best for timing around workouts,” Pasquariello says.
5. Your meal wasn’t balanced
How this works: Protein, fats, and fiber are key to keeping you full, so a meal low on those vital nutrients could leave you feeling peckish before long. “If you ate a high volume of food but the meal consisted mostly of quickly-digesting carbs, you’re likely to feel hungry for more later on, once those carbs digest,” Pasquariello says as one example. Take fruit: Rather than eat it on its own, you’d ideally want to pair it with something like cheese (a protein source) and nuts (a source of healthy fats as well as protein and fiber), according to Ditkoff. Because the protein-fats-fiber trifecta helps control the rate at which carbs, the body’s primary energy source, are digested, it ensures a more progressive rise in blood sugar and a more steady release of energy, preventing the highs and lows that can trigger cravings. “You need to have all three things,” Ditkoff says. If your meal or snack is missing those components, “that may impact your ability to feel full.”
What to do about it: Make sure your food sources represent a mix of protein, fiber, and healthy fats rather than carbs alone (and limit refined carbs like white rice, white bread, and added sugar altogether).
6. You’re experiencing taste hunger
How this works: Hunger doesn’t necessarily always stem from your body’s energy needs alone—it can also mean you “aren’t actually satisfied with what you’re eating” from a sensory perspective, Ditkoff says. “Let’s say you eat something very bland and boring, and there’s not much flavor, and it’s not actually what you wanted to eat,” she explains. “You may still have cravings and be hungry.”
What to do about it: While nutritional composition is important, it isn’t everything—so in addition to ensuring your meal is well-balanced, “you also want to have something that is going to be, taste-wise, enjoyable,” Ditkoff says.
7. You’re stressed (or dealing with another negative emotion)
How this works: As anyone who’s ever plowed through a metric ton of potato chips while banging out a last-minute college essay knows, your emotional state plays a big role in your appetite. Stress eating is probably the most famous manifestation of this phenomenon, but “if you’re extremely bored or, on the flip side, very distracted doing something, it’s also possible for food noise to creep in,” Pasquariello says. “Even if you just ate a meal and felt full after, your body is craving something to munch on for texture or comfort reasons.” Research has found that stronger feelings of boredom are followed by increased snacking, for example.
What to do about it: There tends to be a lot of stigma around emotional eating, but shaming people for turning to food to cope with tough circumstances almost always backfires. Pasquariello’s suggestion: Try a reframe. “Instead of focusing on what you need to deprive yourself of, think of what you can add to help feel satisfied,” she says. “For instance, if you find that you crave something sweet after every meal, identify a food pairing or swap that satisfies your sweet tooth but is still nutritious enough for everyday [eating]—e.g., berries and a small piece of dark chocolate or apple slices dipped in almond butter with cinnamon.”
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to bring out the big guns: If you’re having trouble managing food noise on your own, it can’t hurt to seek out professional advice, according to Pasquariello. “Navigating persistent food noise is best done in consultation with a dietitian who understands your specific needs and lifestyle, rather than using social media hacks or quick fixes online,” she says—and that goes for many nutritional concerns.
Related:
- 5 Nutrients Women Need More of After 40
- Your Food Order Matters. Here’s How to Do It Right.
- You Might Not Be Hungry After a Workout—But You Should Still Eat Something
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