If you started one of our new meal plans at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, and find you’re not hungry between meals or feel full enough to make it to the next meal from the snacks, that’s normal. In fact, the diet plans are created to help you feel fuller longer, without consuming tons of extra calories.is However, hunger is normal and regulated by hormones, leptin, the hormone that makes you feel full and ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry. The hypothalamus also regulates hunger, as does your blood sugar levels and even your empty stomach and intestines.
If you should be hungry but aren’t, maybe it’s anxiety, depression or stress.
Stress can cause anxiety and depression. It can also make you feel sick to your stomach. It triggers the fight or flight response, which can slow your digestion and decrease how hungry you feel. Stress can cause anxiety and the reverse is also true. When you’re anxious, it can trigger the stress response—fight or flight. People who are depressed also find their hunger signaling is interrupted. According to one study, it slowed the activity in the brain that assessed the body’s hunger level.
If you’re sick, you may not be hungry.
If you don’t feel good or are sick to your stomach, you’ll probably not feel hungry. Think about the last time you had a cold or allergies that caused your nose to run like crazy. Food probably didn’t sound good and if you ate, didn’t taste good either. That upper respiratory distress interfered with the sense of smell and ultimately taste. If the stomach flu has you trapped in the bathroom, of course the thought of food is completely unappetizing. Chronic health conditions like cancer, heart disease and kidney failure can cause your appetite to wane. Even pregnant women with morning sickness or heartburn might find they aren’t as hungry as normal.
The older you are, the more likely you’ll experience lack of hunger more often.
As you age, your body makes a lot of changes. Hormone levels, even the hunger and satiety hormone levels, are lower. Your body has a slower metabolic rate and needs fewer calories. The sense of taste and smell diminishes. There’s less saliva production and sometimes fewer teeth, no teeth or chronic dental illness that interferes with eating. Even chronic illness, depression and medications can dull the appetite.
- Antibiotics, diuretics, sedatives and antihypertensives all may have a side effect of lack of appetite. Some medications make your stomach upset, while others make you feel fatigued, or both. Cancer treatments are known for decreasing appetite.
- If you’re suffering from chronic pain, there’s a big chance that your appetite will suffer as well. Chronic conditions like arthritis or even cramps from menstruation can cause your appetite to suffer.
- If you’re losing too much weight, find ways to make your food more enjoyable, whether cooking with herbs or focusing on food you love. Make sure you eat foods higher in calories and if necessary, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to eat.
- See a doctor if lack of appetite is longer than a week or couple of weeks or if you can’t swallow, keep food down or have symptoms indicating a serious condition. Also check with your doctor if you’re losing weight unintentionally.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training