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Excessive appetite: what to do if you constantly want to eat? Video
The constant desire to eat, excessive appetite is a real problem, and not only for those who are already overweight. This is a reason to be wary of those women who, despite the large amount eaten, remain slim. Increased appetite can be a symptom of many serious medical conditions.
Excessive appetite: constantly hungry
Hunger and appetite are different phenomena
Hunger is the body’s objective and unambiguous response to a lack of nutrients. Thus, the body signals that for further functioning in the usual mode, it is required to replenish energy reserves that have come to an end since the last meal. If there is no new replenishment, the body almost immediately begins to rebuild, first spending the most accessible type of energy reserves – glycogen from muscle tissue, and then changing the hormonal balance.
This is why hunger should be avoided, even if you are dieting and trying to lose weight.
Appetite is another matter. Most often it is due to psychological factors, and in some cases, disease. Dangerous is not the appetite that you experience while enjoying food, but the one that forces you to eat much more than is necessary for the normal functioning of your body.
Increased appetite – health problems
Physiologically speaking, increased appetite is also due to physiology: it is a defense mechanism that the body turns on when there is a threat of hunger. The body creates an excess supply, which will be used up later when food restrictions begin. Such a malfunction in the body is most often a sign of disease. In most cases, the cause of false appetite is dysfunction of the endocrine system, including diabetes mellitus and thyroid pathology. Excessive appetite can also be caused by helminthic invasions, as well as diseases of the digestive system, a brain tumor, and hypoglycemic syndrome.
The intake of certain medications, including hormonal contraceptives, hormone and insulin-containing drugs, including synthetic glucocorticoids, can also provoke an increase in appetite.
If you are really concerned about an unexplained increase in appetite, before taking any measures, you should check with your doctor and pass the appropriate tests to exclude these objective causes and deal with the elimination of health problems.
Psychological causes of increased appetite
If you are constantly hungry, it can be triggered by psychological problems, such as:
- chronic depression and apathy
- nervous exhaustion
- overwork
- severe nervous shock
- constant stress
When you feel that you are on the verge of nervous exhaustion, compensating for it by overeating, and you cannot overcome psychogenic hunger on your own, either by self-control or by resolving the current difficult situation, you should consult a psychotherapist. Do this without waiting for obesity and health problems to add to your psychological problems.
Other causes of false appetite
Fortunately or unfortunately, most cases of uncontrollable appetite are explained by completely different reasons, and these reasons are associated with a disregard for their health.
In these cases, false appetite may be the result of:
- wrong diet
- dehydration of the body
- lack of sleep
- excessive physical exertion
Some people are just used to eating a lot and have accustomed their body to it, for which even a slight reduction in calories consumed becomes a real stress. Improper eating habits and a distended stomach are the explanation for the increased appetite that some ladies suffer.
When you eat in snatches and postpone the main meal until the evening, you feel hungry all day, and by night – increased appetite, aggravated by the absorption of food while sitting in front of the TV
Craving for sweets – buns and chocolates also contributes to the fact that these “fast” carbohydrates, although they bring satiety, but not for long, because they are digested as quickly as they are called. To reduce your appetite, eat unrefined fiber-rich foods – hunger and appetite will disappear for a long time. In addition, you should drink more water – sometimes dehydration is confused with the desire to eat. Observe the regime of proper nutrition and the correct lifestyle, include physical activity in your daily routine, go to bed on time and sleep enough to get enough sleep, and after a month you will no longer have the desire to constantly “sharpen” anything.
Do not use fast weight loss diets. You will provoke hormonal disruption and, as a result, an increase in appetite. Returning to your normal diet will quickly put you back on weight.
Other causes of increased appetite are premenstrual syndrome and pregnancy. If it is associated with PMS, it will be difficult to fight your appetite, resign yourself and make yourself a couple of fasting days when you can eat normally. During pregnancy, you should control your appetite, assuming that by gaining weight over the norm, you are guaranteed to have problems with delivery. But in order not to starve and not deprive the fetus of essential nutrients, eat the “right” foods, your menu should be balanced, rich in vitamins and microelements.