Feeling hungry after eating – a fairly common situation. Those people who periodically experience this feeling themselves try to understand what the reason is in order to get rid of the problem.

But not everyone manages to overcome this feeling. And all because the reasons for each person may be different, and the main task is to find and eradicate the factor that causes the feeling of hunger in your body.

Causes of feeling hungry after eating

Feeling hungry is considered a normal and natural feeling, indicating that we need to add energy and nutrients to our body; however, there may be other reasons.

Symptoms of feeling hungry after eating

The main symptom of feeling hungry after eating is, in fact, a constant feeling of hunger. A person has an irresistible desire to eat, and even while eating he thinks about what else he can eat. Even a large portion of food does not bring satiety, and a person can stop only when the stomach is full. But, nevertheless, even this does not bring him nutritional (nutritional) satisfaction.

Without the opportunity to eat, such people become nervous and irritated over trifles. Their mood and productivity largely depend on the availability of food, otherwise all thoughts will be directed only to the search for food.

Experts distinguish between real and false feelings of hunger:

  • a real, or physiological feeling of hunger appears when the level of glucose in the blood decreases, when the stomach is empty, when signals from the food center are activated that it is time to replenish the amount of nutrients in the body. During real hunger, the digestive system becomes active, and a person hears and feels a kind of “rumbling” in the stomach and “sucking” in the pit of the stomach;
  • a false feeling of hunger appears on a psychological level and has nothing to do with the presence or absence of food in the stomach. Such hunger is caused by many of the reasons we listed above, which do not relate to the body’s direct need for nutrients. In this state, you will not hear the “rumbling” in the stomach.

The most negative point is that if we constantly try to satisfy a false feeling of hunger after eating, then as a result we contribute to the appearance of problems with the digestive and cardiovascular systems, as well as with our mental state. Emotional instability, self-doubt, irritability, even the development of depressive states appear. And here you can’t do without the help of a qualified psychologist.

Feeling hungry immediately after eating: latest research

Sometimes it happens that a person does not go on a diet, eats regular food that is familiar to him, strictly adheres to the diet, but still suffers from a feeling of hunger after eating. American experts, after numerous studies and observations, came to the conclusion that one of the reasons for the constant feeling of hunger is an excess of fatty, filling food. According to long-term observations, the greater the amount of high-calorie, filling food consumed, the more pronounced the feeling of hunger is subsequently. Simply put, a person no longer gets enough of less food, requiring more and more calories.

Nutritionists from the American State University of Cincinnati (Ohio) explained the increase in food cravings by the presence in every human body of a specific hormonal substance – ghrelin. It is also called the appetite hormone. This peptide hormone has the ability to induce hunger by reacting with fats found in the foods we eat.

Ghrelin is produced to a greater extent in the stomach and, in a sense, determines our eating behavior. It has been proven that the amount of this hormone increases immediately before a meal and decreases approximately 2 hours after a meal. However, for those who eat large amounts of high-calorie, filling food, the amount of ghrelin after eating does not decrease. From this we can conclude that the feeling of hunger after eating may be associated with increased levels of the hormone ghrelin.

Based on these studies, specialists began to develop new drugs that could stabilize and regulate ghrelin production. Conversely, by stimulating the synthesis of the hormone, scientists plan to increase food cravings in patients suffering from anorexia.

It remains to be hoped that such drugs will soon be used to treat obesity and pathological hunger.

After eating, you remain hungry – a direct path to bulimia

Bulimia (from the Greek bus – bull and limos – hunger) is a psychopathological condition in which there is an increased feeling of hunger and decreased satiety: a person suffering from bulimia loses the feeling of satiety, even when eating a large amount of food, and the feeling of hunger haunts him constantly. As a rule, the cause of this condition is damage to the receptors that are located in the hypothalamus and are responsible for obtaining a feeling of satiety. They are the ones who notify the brain that the body is full. Failure of the function of these receptors leads to the fact that a person loses the ability to satiate.

How is bulimia different from the usual feeling of hunger after eating, which we talked about earlier? Because bulimia is not just a symptom of a condition. This is a real eating disorder, most often associated with disturbances in the mental perception of food. In most cases, the problem is based on a phobia – the fear of gaining excess weight due to excess food consumption.

Overeating, a person suffering from bulimia tries in every possible way to get rid of the food they have eaten, either by inducing vomiting or taking laxatives. The result is diseases of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, gall bladder, irritable bowel syndrome, autonomic disorders (heart rhythm disturbances, increased sweating, dizziness and even fainting), as well as mental personality disorders.

People with bulimia often cannot fight painful bouts of hunger. At such moments, they simply attack the food, sweeping away everything – sweets, meat, flour, etc., but do not feel full. Feeling a heaviness in their stomach, and feeling guilty for their incontinence, they go to get rid of everything they have eaten. As a rule, to the toilet.

Sooner or later, this condition may lead to the fact that a person will no longer be able to cope with the problem on his own: long-term treatment in a hospital will be required.

Diagnosis of hunger after eating

In order to diagnose why the feeling of hunger does not disappear after eating, you need to think: under what circumstances or after what events does an irresistible feeling of hunger appear? What do you personally associate it with? Does this feeling always happen, or only sometimes? Based on the answers to these questions, you can choose the appropriate type of diagnosis for yourself:

  • Visiting a gynecologist – you may have a hormonal imbalance or menstrual irregularity. Or maybe you’re just pregnant!
  • Consultation with a neurologist, psychologist or psychiatrist – if your constant feeling of hunger is associated with frequent stress, nervous tension, and worries.
  • Consultation with a nutritionist to balance the correctness of your diet with daily physical and mental activity, as well as to adjust your weight loss diet, if you are following one.
  • Bacteriological or biochemical examination of feces is carried out to diagnose dysbacteriosis and the state of intestinal microflora. Simultaneously with such a study, it is recommended to consult a gastroenterologist.
  • Examination of stool for worm eggs.
  • A visit to an endocrinologist to examine the endocrine system and metabolic processes in the body. Determination of blood sugar levels.

These are the main diagnostic methods that you can turn to if you feel hungry after eating. Of course, if you constantly eat simply out of boredom, then diagnosis is useless: just keep yourself busy with something interesting that will help you get carried away and forget about food.

Treating hunger after eating

How can you cure the feeling of hunger after eating?

  • Determine and diagnose the cause of the feeling of hunger after eating, and based on the results, undergo qualified treatment.
  • Get rid of worms, or undergo prevention of helminthic infestations.
  • Limit the percentage of sweet and flour products in your daily diet, replacing them with fresh fruits and berries.
  • Create and stick to a diet plan. Only in this case will the body get used to the fact that you eat food at the same time, and will patiently wait in the wings. In this case, it is important to reinforce such a habit: for example, set a reminder on your phone so as not to miss a meal time.
  • Normalize your psychological state, avoid scandals, quarrels and stress.

You can also try to get rid of the feeling of hunger after eating using folk remedies. True, if you have a certain disease that contributes to a constant feeling of hunger, then such recipes are unlikely to help you: you should treat the provoking disease – helminthic infestation, hyperthyroidism, metabolic disorders, etc.

The main part of folk remedies for combating hunger after eating is aimed at reducing appetite:

  • Take 3 cloves of garlic, peel and crush in a mortar. Pour 200 ml of lukewarm boiled water and leave for 1 hours. Every day before going to bed we drink XNUMX tablespoon of infusion;
  • drink 1 tablespoon of prepared flax oil immediately before meals, three times a day;
  • Infuse 1 teaspoon of dry mint and parsley in 200 ml of boiling water for half an hour. We drink when there is a persistent feeling of hunger;
  • take 250 g of dried fruits (dates, figs, dried apricots, etc.) and cook in 1,5 liters of water until the amount of water is reduced by 25%. After removing from heat, cool and drink 100 ml before meals;
  • Take 10 g of corn silk and pour a glass of boiling water into a thermos, leave for half an hour. Drink 1 tablespoon before eating.

A clever trick also helps to eat less at lunch: before eating, you should drink a cup of green tea, kefir, or just a glass of clean water.

If a constant feeling of hunger after eating is associated with nervousness and stress, use soothing decoctions and teas with the addition of mint, jasmine, lemon balm, valerian or hops.

Prevention

What can you do to prevent feeling hungry after eating?

  • Firstly, it is necessary to treat diseases of the digestive system in a timely manner and carry out periodic prevention of helminthic infestations.
  • Secondly, you should avoid stress, and if you do get nervous, don’t run straight to the refrigerator: it’s better to take a walk in the park or just down the street, calm down. After you get home, brew some soothing mint tea and put on a good movie or comedy.
  • If you are “on a diet”, then you should not think that you must starve and deny yourself everything. Proper and safe weight loss for the body should be based on proper nutrition. Try to ensure that your body does not experience hunger, so that all the necessary substances and vitamins are supplied with food. Just give up all kinds of “harmful foods” – sweets, simple sugars, white flour products, fast food, fatty foods. You don’t have to give up everything else, just count calories according to your constitution and physical activity. Remember that in any case, the calorie content of your daily diet cannot be less than 1200-1400 kcal.
  • Monitor your bowel activity. If there are signs of dysbiosis (stool instability – constipation gives way to diarrhea, or bloating, etc.), then be sure to take a course of special medications: bifidumbacterin, lactobacterin, lacto-mun, etc. Be sure to eat fresh fermented milk products: yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, fermented baked milk .
  • Include vegetables and fruits in your menu, as they provide the body with the fiber necessary for normal digestion, while being perfectly absorbed by the body.
  • Drink enough water. Sometimes we mistake thirst for a false feeling of hunger. Water should be at room temperature, non-carbonated, and should be drunk half an hour before meals, or 2 hours after.
  • Avoid feeling hungry. Always have a snack with you: a handful of nuts or dried fruits, but not dry sandwiches or chips.

If you are prone to overeating, try not to idle: it is the boredom of doing nothing that draws us to the refrigerator. Keep yourself busy with something useful, find a hobby that will distract you from thinking about food. Draw, sew, play sports. You can ride a bike, go to the pool or go to the gym. Or you can just go to the nearest park and collect interesting and different leaves. Turn on your imagination and go!

The forecast for feeling hungry after eating depends entirely on you. If you allow yourself to succumb to temptation and eat more and more each time, sooner or later this may result in obesity, digestive diseases, metabolic disorders or bulimia.

Remember that food is not a cult or the meaning of life, so you should not put it in first place in your life priorities. Although you shouldn’t forget about it either: our body won’t like it. Eat healthy foods, preferably at the same time, lead an active lifestyle, and the feeling of hunger will not become annoying for you.

Of course, you should not expect instant relief from the feeling of hunger after eating: it is difficult to eradicate this feeling of false hunger, and you may have to gather all your will into a fist. But a positive result is possible only if a person sincerely understands the need to change something in his lifestyle. Feeling hungry after eating is a feeling that you should get rid of. Our health should be higher than the bad habits that destroy us.

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