Always Feeling Hungry? It Could be Caused by Digestive Issues.
“Why do I keep feeling hungry?”
This is a very common question. You could have digestive issues, or maybe just the wrong diet. So, let’s talk about a few other reasons you may feel hungry by checking out more details below!
- Low Protein intake – protein (among other things) helps with satiety.
- Low fiber intake – Fiber also helps satiety! But you must also ensure you drink sufficient fluids (mainly water) to prevent uncomfortable bloating. You can find fiber in fruits, vegetables and whole grain products (Aim to reach: 25 g a day for woman and 35 g a day for men)
- Your fat intake is too low **- Yes, this may be a shocker. But similar to protein, fat helps with satiety. However, it’s vital that we don’t over consume fat especially saturated fats.
- Too many (simple) carbohydrates – Meals and snacks high in carbs (especially refined/simple carbs) may cause a spike with blood sugars followed by drastic decrease, leading to hunger! It’s all about adequate intake of carbs with each meal to prevent this from happening (and stick to complex carbs most often since they allow the decrease of blood sugar to be a slow and gradual process)
- Inadequate sleep – Yes, sleep can also affect your caloric intake. Inadequate sleep can affect your hormones, specifically *ghrelin*. Ghrelin is known as the “hunger hormone”, so if it’s continuously high, your caloric intake can also be high, so let’s develop some healthy sleep habits! Bye-bye midnight tik-tok videos!
- You’re always stressed! – This can lead to emotional eating and changes with hormone levels such as cortisol. It’s VITAL that you practice stress management techniques to prevent chronic stress.
These are the common reasons you may find it difficult to reach your weight goals! It’s important that you speak to a qualified practitioner, like a registered dietitian or gastroenterologist, to further assess.
Feeling hungry soon after you eat is very common, and the cause is often simple: what you eat, how much you sleep, or how stressed you are. But constant hunger can also be a sign of a digestive or metabolic problem that deserves a medical evaluation.
Common dietary reasons you may always feel hungry
- Low protein intake: protein helps you feel full longer, so meals low in protein tend to leave you hungry sooner.
- Low fiber intake: fiber slows digestion and helps keep blood sugar steady, which supports satiety.
- Too many refined carbohydrates and sugar: they digest quickly, can spike and then drop blood sugar, and often bring hunger back within a couple of hours.
- Not enough sleep or too much stress: both can change the hormones that regulate appetite, including ghrelin and leptin.
- Not drinking enough water: thirst is sometimes mistaken for hunger.
Digestive and medical causes of constant hunger
If your diet looks balanced and you are still hungry all the time, a medical cause may be involved. Conditions that affect how your body absorbs nutrients, such as celiac disease, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or pancreatic problems, can leave you hungry even when you eat enough. Diabetes or blood sugar swings, an overactive thyroid and some medications can also increase appetite.
When to see a gastroenterologist
Talk to a specialist if constant hunger comes with unintentional weight loss, diarrhea or greasy stools, bloating, abdominal pain, nausea or blood in the stool. A gastroenterologist can review your symptoms and order the right tests to find the cause.
Need to see a specialist? Gastro SB Clinic in Chula Vista can evaluate and treat this. Learn about gastroenterology care in Chula Vista, call (619) 382-3315 or request an appointment.
Gastro SB Clinic offers comprehensive treatment for a wide range of gastrointestinal and nutritional conditions.
