What is false hunger and how to avoid it: Prof. Kanevskaya gave simple advice

Have you ever felt the need to eat even though you are full? This condition is called false hunger. Let’s talk to an expert about how to avoid it.

What we’ll tell you

What is false hunger?

MD, professor, specialist in integrative and anti-aging medicine.

“The urge to snack in the middle of the day or the desire to eat chips when you watch a movie in the evening indicate false hunger. This is a condition where our body signals a desire to eat, although there is no physiological need for food.”

Such a state can be triggered by various factors, such as emotions (you are bored, stressed or want to entertain yourself) or external stimuli (delicious smell of food, appetizing appearance of food). This is what distinguishes false hunger from true hunger.

During true hunger, you experience real signs of hunger: rumbling in your stomach, difficulty concentrating, and decreased energy levels. You may also experience headaches in response to a drop in blood glucose levels. False hunger causes you to eat when your body doesn’t really need the food.

It is important to note that false hunger usually leads to eating large amounts of sweet, fatty and salty foods.

This is unhealthy and increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Causes of false hunger and ways to avoid it

Let’s discuss the most common causes of false hunger and ways to combat it.

1- Environment

The mere smell or sight of delicious food can make us feel falsely hungry. For example, when you walk past a pastry shop with an open counter, you may want to buy a fresh croissant.

Marketers are well aware of the mechanisms of sales, and for this reason, all food packages have bright and attractive color and smell, often with the use of flavorings, which encourages a sense of false hunger. This tactic is used by all confectionery and grocery stores.

What to do.

In this situation, it’s important to realize that these are marketing ploys. You need to reconsider your attitude towards them. The main thing is to change your environment. If you find it difficult to refuse external temptations, use avoidance behavior tactics.

Try to change your route: do not pass by flavored pastry shops and do not enter the supermarket unnecessarily. Also replace unhealthy snacks in the house with more nutritious options.

Politely ask your loved ones in the family not to offer you desserts. This will create positive emotional reinforcement and make it easier to stick to your chosen path.

2- Dehydration

Not drinking enough water is a common cause of false hunger – and these conditions are surprisingly easy to confuse because the hunger and thirst centers in the human brain are next to each other.

What to do.

Drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes. This alone often eliminates the feeling of hunger.

3. Emotions

Emotional hunger, inner emptiness, lack of emotions and impressions, a person most often seeks to compensate with food.

What to do?

Practice other proven mechanisms and strategies for overcoming emotional difficulties. Going for a long walk, calling a friend, taking a bath, or exercising are good ways to feel better.

4. Lack of sleep

Lack of sleep increases appetite and promotes overeating. This is due to an increase in the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone.

What to do?

Follow a sleep-wake schedule: get up and go to bed at the same time. Experts recommend going to sleep no later than 23:00 to maintain the physiological production of the hormone melatonin.

How to determine: true hunger or false hunger?

There is a good way to determine whether hunger is false or real. Ask yourself the question: what do you want to eat?

If the answer is “anything you have in your refrigerator at the moment” – the hunger is real. If you want a specific food, like cake or rolls, it’s probably false hunger.

Here’s a simple test to help you distinguish false hunger from true hunger.