Feeling hungry after a meal

Feeling hungry after eating is 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 can be different, and the main task is to find and eradicate the factor that causes the feeling of hunger in your body.

[ 1 ]

Causes hunger after a meal

The feeling of hunger is considered a normal and natural feeling, indicating that we need to add energy and nutrients to our body, but there may be other reasons.

[ 2 ]

Symptoms hunger after a meal

The main symptom of hunger 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 alimentary (food) satisfaction.

In the absence of the opportunity to eat, such people get 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 blood glucose level drops, 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 is in no way connected with the presence or absence of food in the stomach. Such hunger is caused by many of the reasons listed above, which do not relate to the body's direct need for nutrients. In this state, you will not hear "rumbling" in the stomach.

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

Feeling Hungry Immediately After Eating: Latest Research

Sometimes it happens that a person does not diet, eats regular, familiar food, 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 more caloric, filling food is consumed, the more pronounced the feeling of hunger is later. Simply put, a person no longer gets full with a smaller amount of food, demanding more and more calories.

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

Ghrelin is produced mostly 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, in those who eat a large amount of high-calorie, filling food, the amount of ghrelin after a meal does not decrease. From this we can conclude that the feeling of hunger after a meal may be associated with an increased level of the hormone ghrelin.

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

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

[ 3 ]

After eating, you still feel hungry – a direct path to bulimia?

Bulimia (from the Greek bus – bull and limos – hunger) is a psychopathological condition characterized by 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 located in the hypothalamus and responsible for obtaining a feeling of satiety. They are the ones that notify the brain that the body is full. A malfunction of these receptors leads to a person losing the ability to feel satiated.

How does bulimia differ from the usual feeling of hunger after eating, which we talked about earlier? Because bulimia is not just a symptom of some condition. It 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 excessive food consumption.

Having overeaten, a person suffering from bulimia tries in every way to get rid of the food eaten, either by inducing vomiting or taking laxatives. As a result - diseases of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, gall bladder, irritable bowel syndrome, vegetative disorders (heart rhythm disturbances, increased sweating, dizziness up to fainting), as well as mental personality disorders.

Bulimics often cannot fight painful hunger attacks. At such moments, they simply pounce on food, sweeping away everything in sight – sweets, meat, flour, etc., but they do not feel full. Feeling heaviness in the stomach, they, feeling guilty for their lack of restraint, go to get rid of everything they ate. 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.

[ 4 ]

Diagnostics hunger after a meal

In order to diagnose why the feeling of hunger does not go away 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 occur, or only sometimes? Based on the answers to these questions, you can choose the appropriate type of diagnosis for yourself:

• Visit a gynecologist – perhaps you have a hormonal imbalance, a menstrual cycle disorder. Or maybe you are just pregnant!
• Consult 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 measure the correctness of your diet with your 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 undergo a consultation with a gastroenterologist.
• Stool test for worm eggs.
• Visit to an endocrinologist with examination of the endocrine system, metabolic processes in the body. Determination of blood sugar levels.

These are the main diagnostic methods you can use when you feel hungry after eating. Of course, if you constantly eat just out of boredom, then diagnostics are useless: just occupy yourself with something interesting that will help you get carried away and forget about food.

[ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ]

Treatment hunger after a meal

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 invasions.
• Limit the percentage of sweet and flour products in your daily diet, replacing them with fresh fruits and berries.
• Create and stick to a meal plan. Only then will your body get used to eating at the same time and will patiently wait for its time. In this case, it is important to reinforce this habit: for example, set a reminder on your phone so as not to miss your 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 with folk remedies. However, if you have a certain disease that contributes to the appearance of a constant feeling of hunger, then such recipes are unlikely to help you: you should start treating the provoking disease - helminthic invasion, hyperthyroidism, metabolic disorders, etc.

The majority of folk remedies for combating the feeling of hunger after eating are aimed at reducing appetite:

• take 3 cloves of garlic, peel and crush in a mortar. Pour 200 ml of lukewarm boiled water, leave for 24 hours. Drink 1 tablespoon of the infusion every day before going to bed;
• drink 1 tablespoon of prepared flaxseed 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. Drink when you feel a persistent feeling of hunger;
• take 250 g of dried fruits (dates, figs, dried apricots, etc.) and cook in 1.5 l of water until the amount of water has boiled down by 25%. After removing from the 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 that helps you eat less at lunch is to drink a cup of green tea, kefir, or just a glass of clean water before eating.

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 invasions.
• Secondly, you should avoid stress, and if you do get nervous, don't run straight to the fridge: take a walk in the park or just down the street, calm down. After you get home, brew some calming mint tea and turn on a good movie or comedy.
• If you are on a diet, you should not think that you must necessarily starve and deny yourself everything. Correct 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 come with food. Just give up all sorts of "harmful things" - sweets, simple sugars, flour products made from white flour, fast food, fatty dishes. You should not give up everything else, just count calories according to your constitution and physical activity. Remember that in any case, the caloric content of your daily diet cannot be less than 1200-1400 kcal.
• Monitor your bowel activity. If there are signs of dysbacteriosis (stool instability - constipation alternates with 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 it is thirst that we mistake for a false feeling of hunger. Water should be at room temperature, non-carbonated, and should be drunk half an hour before a meal or 2 hours after.
• Don't let hunger set in. Always have a snack with you: a handful of nuts or dried fruit, but not dry sandwiches or chips.

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

The prognosis of feeling hungry after eating depends solely on you. If you allow yourself to give in to temptations and eat more and more each time, then sooner or later this can result in obesity, digestive diseases, metabolic disorders or bulimia.

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

Of course, you shouldn't 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 or her lifestyle. The feeling of hunger after eating is a feeling that should be gotten rid of. Our health should be higher than the bad habits that ruin us.

[ 9 ], [ 10 ]