Why Am I Always Hungry? 15 Reasons For Hunger Even After Eating

Feeling hungry is a natural part of being alive. People of all ages from different places and food cultures feel hungry.

Further, our physiological systems are wired to induce feelings of hunger, sleep, and lots of other things. So, it's quite natural to feel hungry during the standard time of lunch and dinner.

But feeling hungry all the time is not healthy. A constant hunger implies faults in your diet and lifestyle.

Also, it may indicate something serious like health issues. Read on to explore what makes you hungry all the time and how to deal with it.

Why Am I Always Hungry? 15 Reasons

1. You’re not eating enough protein

You need to incorporate an adequate amount of protein for appetite control and ensure the intake of fewer calories. When you consume more protein, it will boost the secretion of the fullness hormone. Also, it will lower the secretion of the hunger hormone.

It is not difficult to control the hunger hormones by having a protein-rich balanced diet. You can have animal proteins like eggs, lean meat, and fish with healthy fats. To include protein flavorfully in your meals, you can have crispy salmon or shawarma spiced chicken.

You can even include soy, dairy, and plant-derived proteins in your diet.

Proper intake of protein has many other proven health benefits. The most important, though, is preventing unnecessary weight gain caused by eating disorders.

We recommend the following products to ensure proper protein intake and avoid feeling hungry all the time.

A. Promotes Fast Muscle Recovery & Sound Immune & Digestive System: Garden of Life Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder

This USDA-certified and non-GMO protein powder does not contain any artificial sweeteners. So, it is extremely beneficial as an artificial sweetener like Sucralose promotes food intake. Further, artificial sweeteners can boost blood sugar levels.

It is also gluten-free and enriched with plant-based proteins. Some of these sources include peas, sprouted navy beans, sprouted lentil beans, and sprouted garbanzo beans.

By acting as a powerful source of protein, this protein powder helps improve overall health. It promotes faster recovery of muscles and a sound immune and digestive system. An improved digestive system helps to prevent weight gain.

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B. Strengthens Muscles and Improves Overall Nourishment: Orgain Simple Organic Plant Protein Powder

If you want to increase your protein intake so that you don't feel hungry all the time, try this product. It is a USDA-approved and non-GMO product without lactose, gluten, soy, or dairy. Further, this protein powder has pea, peanut flour, chia, almond, and pumpkin.

Unlike the product mentioned above, this one is focused mainly on increasing protein intake. Also, it has many health benefits, including overall nourishment and the strengthening of the muscles.

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C. Best Vegan Powder For Muscle Gain: Now Sports Pea Powder

Rich in the complete amino acid profile, it is a great aid for people following a low-carb vegan diet. It also has calcium, Vitamin D, potassium, and iron.

As the name suggests, it is made with pea protein and is ideal for pre-workout and post-workout consumption. In addition, it helps muscle gain.

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2. You’re not sleeping enough

Lack of enough sleep can increase appetite. Enough sleep can regulate a hormone called ghrelin which can increase hunger. Further, the secretion of the leptin hormone is increased with proper sleep, promoting a feeling of fullness.

In other words, a sleep-deprived person suffers from an imbalance of hunger hormones. In addition, inadequate sleep can lead to problems like deteriorated heart health and high risks of cancer.

So, having at least eight hours of sleep every night is recommended for better hunger management. Here are some recommended sleep aid supplements that will help you have enough rest.

A. Best Pick For Quick Results: Harmonium Sleep Support

This supplement contains ashwagandha, passion flower extract, melatonin, chamomile, and ginseng. All these ingredients not only contribute to having a better sleep but also bring the calmness required for falling asleep.

Moreover, the supplement contains magnesium which helps in improving mood. And having a positive mood helps to have fewer negative thoughts, which helps in falling asleep.

Interestingly, the supplement has a lemon flavor that comes naturally from its ingredients.

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Full Article: Harmonium Sleep Support Reviews 2024: Does it Really Work?

B. Best For Relaxation: Vitapost Sleep Support Plus

This supplement, thanks to its blend of herbal extracts, induces a feeling of relaxation. Further, it contains melatonin effective in helping you to sleep.

Notably, the Vitapost supplement also improves your sleep cycle. And this helps in having a good sleep at appropriate times.

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Full Article: Vitapost Sleep Support Plus Reviews 2024: Does it Really Work?

C. Best Sleep-aid Supplement For Weight Loss: Ztox

This supplement, as the manufacturer claims, helps in improving the function of the sleep hormone, melatonin. Also, the product supports healthy metabolism and blood sugar levels that prevents unnecessary hunger. And thus, people desiring to shed extra weight can use Z-tox.

Further, the supplement includes calcium and magnesium, which helps you to have healthy sleep patterns.

Shop at Z-tox Official Website.

Full Article: Z-tox Reviews: Does it Really Work?

3. You’re eating too many refined carbs

The refined carbs that people eat do not have enough nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. These cause increased appetite and blood sugar levels. You primarily feel hungry with higher refined carbs consumption as they get digested quickly.

You can incorporate whole grains, fruits, veggies, and legumes into your diet. The whole grains and fiber-rich food products will impart a sense of fullness for longer.

Further, you can include sources of healthy carbs like sweet potatoes. Its high carbohydrate content can increase blood sugar, but the fibers present leads to a slower release of carbs. So even as a diabetic, you can have carb sources like sweet potatoes.

Here's a digital guide we highly recommend if you wish to start a carb-cycling diet.

A. Comprehensive Guide To Carb Cycling: Carb Cycling For Weight Loss Program

Most often, weight loss comes with a restricted diet and hardcore exercises which people fail to continue in the long run. But this digital guide, “carb cycling for weight loss,” helps you to have a healthy body weight without strict exercises or meals.

This guide teaches you the basics of keto and carb cycling. And it helps you to chalk out an eating plan for carb cycling.

Further, with lucid instructions and realistic goals given, you can get in shape without having undesired hunger pangs.

Shop Carb Cycling For Weight Loss Program at the Official Website.

Full Article: Carb Cycling For Weight Loss Reviews 2024: Does it Really Work?

4. Your diet lacks fiber

Consuming sufficient fiber helps in satisfying your hunger. Also, it makes you feel full for longer.

Further, gut bacteria form short-chain fatty acids from fibers. And these fatty acids have good impacts like anti-inflammatory actions.

A. Top Consumer’s Choice, 3-in-1 Solution: Metamucil

Metamucil, a 3-in-1 solution, is great for managing your weight, maintaining bowel functions, and boosting energy levels. With the main ingredient of psyllium husk, it will offer you 2.4 g soluble fiber with every serving.

It helps to maintain a good digestive system. Further, it ensures that your blood cholesterol level is kept in check.  

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B. Best for Promoting Good Bowel Function: Fibercon

If you want to get rid of bloating and ease your stool movement, Fibercon will be the best choice. Made with polycarbophil, it keeps the digestive system healthy.

You will get 1 g of fiber with each serving of Fibercon, which prevents gas and gut fermentation.

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C. Best for Gut Bacteria and Digestive Health: Benefiber

For adequate fiber intake on a daily basis, you can count on Benefiber. It has wheat dextrin and will give you 3 g of fiber with a single serving.

Rich in fiber, it will boost your satiety level so that you feel fuller for longer. Thus, it will help you avoid the frequent consumption of unhealthy junk foods.

Shop at the Official Amazon Store.

5. Are you feeling stressed?

Stress can cause pain, nausea, lethargy, and other symptoms. Also, it increases cortisol levels which elevate hunger.

Further stress imparts psychological impacts that can make you use binge eating as a coping technique. You can use ashwagandha, an ancient medicinal herb, to make yourself more adaptive to stress.

Moreover, the mentioned herb and also other known names improve cognitive and mental abilities.

6. You exercise or work out a lot!

When you work out, your body uses blood sugar. And it induces the release of more ghrelin which gives a feeling of hunger.

So, it's natural to feel insatiable hunger after heavy exercise or workout. Make sure to have nutrient-rich filling meals to supplement extra energy expenditure.

7. You consume lesser than you need

This surely comes as a no-brainer. Your energy expenditure exceeds your energy consumption. No wonder, you feel you need to have food.

Just compare the level of activity you have with the number of times you eat and your meal sizes. You need to have enough food to supplement your regular activities.

8. Your life is full of unhealthy habits

Our biological clock is trained to make us feel hungry at appropriate times. But when you live a life lacking proper sleeping times and healthy habits, your natural timing gets messed up. And thus, you crave food at inappropriate times and at irregular frequencies.

Further negative habits like smoking can reduce your healthy appetite. On the other hand, alcohol also influences your food intake.

If you are eating junk foods that too at the wrong times, you can have a body detox. Start with having filling but healthy foods at the right meal times and eliminate bad habits. If you have less time, you can prepare fresh food fast by making smoothies, one-pot, and overnight oatmeal.

9. Is there anything serious?

You can blame frequent hunger on lifestyle, bad habits, and poor eating habits. But sometimes your health conditions are responsible for producing high food cravings.

Like, high blood sugar in diabetes makes you feel too much thirsty. And that can make you crave food as well. Also, increased levels of thyroid hormones caused by overactive thyroid or hyperthyroidism can increase hunger.

If you doubt your excessive hunger comes from any of these conditions, consult with your doctor.

10. Are you doing mindful eating?

Are you grabbing breakfast while going out for work? Are you munching on foods while working in front of laptops? If your answer is yes to all of the above, then you are not eating mindfully.

But, irrespective of whenever or in whichever way you are eating the food, can you properly describe its taste? If you say no, you belong to the category of people who never do mindful eating.

We all eat food, but not all of us eat mindfully. And that shows we never enjoy eating and consider meals some boring work that needs to be done and dusted.

But what we need is mindful eating which includes savoring the taste and aroma of foods you are having. And that can be made possible by eating slowly. Also, you need to chew well during meals.

Eating mindfully makes you feel more satisfied and full. Thus you feel less compelled to load yourself with more calories after lunch.

11. The irony of foods making you hungry

People eat foods to satisfy hunger. But there are foods which never make you feel full and thus leave you feeling more hungry. Like drinking fruit juice gives you no fiber eliminating the feeling of satiety that comes after having whole fruits.

Also, having croissants and white bread offers no fiber and good nutrients. And these make you crave foods.

Moreover, a scale called the satiety index checks the feeling of fullness which prevents us from hunger after having food. Include foods like potatoes, fish, and eggs which score more than 100 on the index.

Also, you need to have fresh food fast to reduce cooking time without compromising the intake of good food. You can have cold soba noodles and turkey pumpkin chili as quick, nutritious meals.

12. Adding Alcohol to the mix

We can all agree, hands down, alcohol takes away our sense of inhibitions. And that can be extended to the self-control you have imposed on yourself for controlling food intake. So drinking alcohol makes you feel less guilty while you have chips, pastries, or other calorie-rich snacks.

Further peer-reviewed studies show alcohol during meals encourages us to eat more by affecting brain functions. Notably, drinking alcohol reduces the level of blood sugar, which makes us hungry.

Most importantly, studies pointed out the impact of alcohol on hormones associated with hunger control. Alcohol prevents leptin from inducing the feeling of fullness that comes after eating.

To curb the chances of having unhealthy foods during drinking alcohol, you can make arrangements for fresh food fast. You can pair your drinking options with a chickpea tomato salad or other healthy-filling foods.

13. Have you not been well recently?

During recovering from diseases or illnesses, we feel more hungry. And that is a good sign which shows you are healing.

Make sure to eat generously and well during your recovery period. Include more calories that come from vegetables and fruits. Also, you need to have foods with anti-inflammatory activity, like berries, avocados, mushrooms, and fatty fish.

14. Are you watching too many Reels?

With too many food reels and cooking videos on social media, you may get influenced and feel hungry. But this online “food porn” induced hunger is not physiological but rather psychological.

Watch your virtual intake apart from having a healthy diet to have a healthy appetite.

15. Sugary overload

Consuming foods high in sugar gives feel-good hormones, which make you feel hungry. Most importantly, sugary foods induce a neuronal fasting response that makes you more motivated to eat.

So even after having sweet snacks or sugary beverages, you have a chance of gaining more calories.

Moreover, high fructose meals may resist the action of leptin, the hormone which regulates the feeling of hunger. And having too much fructose may influence your brain and hormonal activities, making you unable to stop eating.

Unexpected Habits Which Make You Hungry

Chewing Gum

Chewing gums stimulate your digestive system to produce digestive juices. And thus, constantly chewing gums makes your brain think you need food when it's actually not so.

Further, a study highlighted chewing gums induce the consumption of more junk foods, a sign of being constantly hungry. So your extreme hunger can stem from something as simple as constantly having chewing gums.

Lack of proper hydration

The hypothalamus region in the brain regulates both hunger and thirst. So whether you are hungry or thirsty, your body gets signals from the same place.

Thus feeling thirsty can be misinterpreted as feeling hungry. So, if you are feeling hungry at odd times, have a glass of water. And then, you can examine if you are feeling the same hunger pangs.

But don't keep drinking water during lunch or dinner time. It's natural to feel hungry during those times.

Are you on your period?

When you are on your period, your levels of estrogen increase, raising cortisol in your body. The changed levels get your metabolism high and running and give a feeling of excessive hunger.

Further, during periods, you often crave salty foods or delicacies having high sugars or spices.

Takeaway

Feeling hungry is natural. But craving food even after meals or at inappropriate times reflects faults in your diet, lifestyle, or habits.

There are many causes that can always make you feel hungry. Starting from overactive thyroid to chewing gums, your hunger can stem from diverse factors.

You need to have healthy, nutrient-rich foods to feel satisfied and not crave snacks frequently. Include more protein and fiber in your meals.

Further, you can have natural supplements to help you have healthy eating patterns.

Why Am I Always Hungry FAQs

What is the healthiest way to address extreme hunger?

Increased hunger may evoke you to binge eat or embrace unhealthy eating habits. But having unhealthy comfort foods not only fails to satisfy hunger but also brings medical conditions. You need to have calorie-rich and nutrient-dense healthy foods to meet your hunger.

Nuts, seeds, and fruits make up for quick-filling snacks. Further, you need to create your meals with complementary nutrients. Like, you can consume fat-soluble vitamins (found in leafy greens and fatty fish) with high-fat food (olive oil or avocados).

How to satisfy your hunger without having weight gain?

Excessive hunger causes you to eat more food, and thus, you can gain weight. But you can control your hunger without having undesired fat gain and without limiting food intake. You can consume high-fiber foods like beans, fruits, and vegetables to feel full for longer periods.

Further, as proved by the 2017 review, chickpeas and lentils give a proper feeling of satiety. These healthy foods satisfy increased appetite without giving extra pounds to your waistline. Also, you need to focus on having a healthy lifestyle to have proper levels of hunger.

Are food cravings and food intake associated?

Badgut.org refers to cravings as the need to have any particular food. And cravings can happen anytime and anywhere, irrespective of how long ago you have eaten.

However, some perceived cravings indicate you have eaten less or skipped having some important nutrients. But craving differs from hunger which represents the body's need for nutrients. And cravings definitely make you eat more and thus increase your overall daily intake.