Don’t Worry, You Don’t Have a Tapeworm
There could be a few reasons for your constant hunger that have nothing to do with parasites (whew!).
Hunger is your body’s natural cue that it needs more food. When you’re hungry, your body doesn’t have the proper nutrients to provide energy, fuel your brain, or replenish your cells.
Hunger can cause a whole host of lovely symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Mood swings
- Hanger (hunger + anger)
- Impulsivity
- Brain fog
- Lack of focus
- Decreased awareness
- Inability to concentrate
In this 10-week series, I’ll provide you with 3 reasons each week why you’re inexplicably always hungry and tips on what you can do to change up your daily routine so you can beat your hunger and fatigue once and for all.
1) THE REASON: You’re not eating enough protein.
Consuming enough protein is important for appetite control because it gives you that sense of satiety or fullness. When hunger strikes, your energy might tank, or you might get really shaky and hangry. And no one wants that!
- Protein naturally takes a longer time to digest, which means it stays in your stomach for a longer period of time and promotes feelings of fullness.
- It’s also been shown to have an appetite-suppressing effect, as it has hunger-reducing properties that naturally cause you eat less during the day.
- Protein, along with healthy fats, helps keep blood sugar and energy levels stable for longer.
- Too little protein, especially in the mornings, has been linked to higher hunger levels later in the day. So eat breakfast!
Starting your day with a well-sourced animal protein increases the production of hormones that signal fullness and reduces the levels of hormones that stimulate hunger, thereby decreasing your craving for quick-burning energy (i.e., sugar or refined carbs) later in the day.
THE SCIENCE
- In one study, 14 overweight men ate a quarter of their calories from protein for 12 weeks and experienced a 50% reduction in their desire for late-night snacking, compared to a group that consumed less protein.
- That same study also reported that the men who ate more protein felt greater fullness throughout the day and had fewer obsessive thoughts about food as compared to the group that ate less protein.
- In another study, half of a group of 21 men ate bagels for breakfast while the other half ate eggs. The egg group had a lower response to ghrelin (the hunger hormone), were less hungry 3 hours later, and consumed fewer calories over the next 24 hours.
THE TIPS
- Of course you know that animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish and eggs, are all high in complete protein.
- If you can tolerate dairy, milk and yogurt can be good sources of complete protein as well.
- Some plant-based foods have good amounts of incomplete protein (so you have to eat combinations of them to get enough complete proteins in your diet). They include beans and legumes, nuts, and seeds.
- Try to include some protein at every meal. If that seems challenging for you, here’s a clever trick: pair it with stuff you’re already going to eat. Wrap your melon in some prosciutto, throw some chia seeds into your smoothie, pair your veggie sticks with a high-protein cheese, or spread some almond butter onto that apple you’re snacking on.
- How much protein should you eat every day? That depends on your weight and your lifestyle. Check out this protein calculator from the United States Department of Agriculture.
THE TAKEAWAY
Protein plays an important role in appetite control by regulating your hunger hormones. So if you’re not eating enough of it, you may often get hungry. Feeling more satiated, and for longer, means more sustained energy throughout your day.
2) THE REASON: You eat too many refined carbs and/or have a sweet tooth.
Even though you may eat something for every meal, if your day looks something like a cereal or a bagel for breakfast, a slice of pizza or a sandwich for lunch, chips for a snack, pasta for dinner, and a cookie (or two!) for dessert, you’re constantly fueling yourself with nutritionally-deficient refined carbohydrates.
And I’m 99.99% sure you’re constantly tired because of it… amiright or amiright?
Refined carbohydrates are those foods that have been processed and stripped of their fiber, vitamins and minerals. This includes anything with white flour (breads, pastas, cereals, cakes, pastries, pies, etc.).
“Foods” with processed sugars (sodas, candy, baked goods, cereals, etc.) are also considered refined carbs.
Sugar is inside all kinds of other processed foods – some that you wouldn’t even consider as “sweet.” Bread, ketchup, frozen meals, salad dressings, pasta sauce, and dairy are just a few examples.
And check out these so-called “health” foods that have more sugar than a Dunkin’ donut. If that’s not eye-opening, I don’t know what is!
Processed foods on average contribute 90% of an American’s daily added sugar intake. NINETY PERCENT. That’s INSANE to me.
Crap carbs make you hungry in 2 different ways:
- Refined carbs don’t fill you up and your body digests them very quickly because they lack fiber, protein, and/or healthy fats to help slow the digestion of the sugars within. Since they don’t promote significant feelings of fullness, you’ll feel hungry quickly after eating them.
- Eating refined carbs can lead to rapid spikes in your blood sugar. This leads to increased levels of insulin (hormone responsible for transporting sugar into your cells). You know that old saying, “That which spikes must come down?” Hello, afternoon slump!
THE SCIENCE
When a lot of insulin is released all at once in response to high blood sugar, it works hard to quickly remove the sugar from your blood. This can lead to a sudden drop in blood sugar levels.
Low blood sugar levels signal your body that it needs more food, so you may feel hungry often if refined carbs are a regular part of your diet. When you’re hungry, most likely your energy is tanking too.
And then what do you reach for when you’re hungry and tired? Probably more of those refined carbs! Round and round you go, on the refined carb hunger cycle.
THE TIPS
- Carbs are like the kindling in a fire – they result in quick-burning energy. Refined carbs burn way quicker than complex carbs, so replace those refined carbs with healthier, whole food complex carbs like vegetables, root vegetables, nuts, fruit, and legumes. These foods are still high in carbs, but they are rich in fiber, which is helpful for keeping hunger under control.
- Paired with a protein or a fat, complex carbs will give you constant, sustained energy throughout your day.
- Still missing your granola bars, cakes, or candies? Try whipping up your own homemade snacks and desserts by using natural sweeteners like dried fruit, honey, or maple syrup, as well as whole-food, grain-free replacements like nuts or alternative flours. There’s a gazillion amazing recipes out there on the internet! To start, try this or this or this.
THE TAKEAWAY
Refined carbs lack fiber and cause blood sugar fluctuations, which are the primary reasons why eating too many of them may leave you feeling hungry and so TIRED.
3) THE REASON: Your diet is low in fat.
Lack of healthy fats in your diet can cause you to be hungrier more often due to the following:
- Fat plays a key role in helping you feel full, partly because of its slow gastrointestinal transit time. It takes longer to digest and therefore remains in your stomach for longer, as compared to carbohydrates.
- Another positive aspect of slower digestion is that fats provide you with longer, more sustained energy as compared to carbohydrates.
- Eating fat may lead to the release of various fullness-promoting hormones. As you bite into a full-fat food, your tongue sends your brain a signal that something filling is on the way down to your stomach.
- As with protein, healthy fats help keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable for longer.
- Low-fat packaged foods tend to be filled with sugar to compensate for a lack of flavor since the flavor is in the fat. See Reason #2 above why sugar is awful for your health.
It’s not simply “calories” that satiate your hunger, it’s specifically the calories from fiber, protein, and healthy fats that actually fill you up. Unfortunately, simple, refined carbs are lacking in all three and so are many packaged 100-calorie snacks that are touted to be healthy.
Simple, refined carbs only provide you with quick and empty calories – no fiber, protein, or healthy fats. No matter how much you eat, your body will continue to send you hunger signals because the food you ate isn’t as satisfying as something that contains all 3.
The result: you’re a sluggish, hungry (possibly hangry?) fiend who’s more likely to continue to dive into the snack drawer, possibly pack on the pounds, and feel like taking a nap in the afternoon.
THE SCIENCE
- One study of 270 obese adults found that those who followed a low-fat diet had significant increases in cravings for carbs and preferences for high-sugar foods, compared to a group who ate a low-carb diet. Also, those eating the low-fat diet reported more feelings of hunger than the group that followed the low-carb diet.
- Another study found that people who ate an oatmeal breakfast (high-carb) were hungry again earlier in the day as compared to people who ate a high-fat, low-carb egg breakfast.
- Yet another study found that people who eat full-fat dairy are no more likely to develop heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes than people who eat low-fat dairy.
- Full-fat eaters have been linked to lower rates of obesity compared to those who steered clear of eating fat.
THE TIPS
- Certain types of fats, such as medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) and omega-3 fatty acids, have been studied the most for their impact on satiation. The richest food source of MCT is coconut oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel. You can also get omega-3s from some plant-based foods like walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.
- Other healthy, high-fat foods include avocados, olive oil, macadamia nuts, and eggs.
- If you can tolerate dairy, choose the full-fat options over reduced-fat or fat-free. Full-fat Greek yogurt is also high in protein – that’s a win-win!
- Always pair carbs with a protein or healthy fat. This will help give you the nutrients to stay fuller for longer.
- If you’re already eating healthy fats but are still hungry, maybe you just need a slightly bigger meal. Go ahead and order that extra side of guac! You won’t be embarrassed at your stomach growling during that 3pm meeting any more!
- You’ve heard it before, but I’m going to say it again: BREAKFAST! Start your day with a high-protein, high-fat food like a veggie-and-meat omelet, or coconut milk chia pudding, and you’ll reduce your hunger overall for the day.
THE TAKEAWAY
You may feel hungry and tired a lot if you don’t eat enough fat. This is because fat plays a role in slowing digestion and increasing the production of fullness-promoting hormones.
Stay tuned for next week’s post with Reasons #4, #5, and #6. One of them is so simple, but I bet you’ll never guess it!
Did any of these hit home for you? Do you have issues with being tired and hungry all the time?
Feel free to leave a comment below – I’d love to hear from you.
If you’re always tired and hungry, and would love some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly, click here.