Surely… one tiny slice of cheesecake can’t hurt?
It’s what Dubai-based Advait Jha used to tell himself, while eating a slice at the end of an exhausting day. It seemed like the perfect comfort food. Yet, despite its creamy goodness, it wasn’t enough. Explaining more, he says, “I would barely eat during the day; I was just trying to fill myself with quick and easy snacks. I was overworked, tired and constantly hungry, and instead of trying to fix it at first, I would eat cookies at night.”
This "messy" routine, as Jha describes it, took a toll on his well-being. “Everything was connected. Stress, sleep, unhealthy eating habits… it all added up,” he says. It took months to break the cycle, but now he prioritises balanced meals with protein, carbs, and healthy fats. His constant hunger has subsided gradually.
This feeling and experience isn’t unique to Jha. On the other hand, Sylvie Jose, a Dubai-based American entrepreneur, always keeps some snacks on her office desk, as she is ‘hungry all the time’.
That’s the annoying thing about hunger: It can be a real pain, literally, not just for your stomach, your wallet and waistline. As dietitians explain, it can be a double-edged sword. It can be physical, driven by your body's need for food, or it can be psychological, fueled by your emotions. Yet, figuring out which one is calling the shots can be a real challenge.
So what exactly is hunger? It's the body's way of letting you know it needs to be refueled. Hala El-Shafie, a clinical dietician based at Dubai’s Sage Clinics, explains the intricate role of hormones involved in physical hunger. Your body requires food to generate energy and thrive. When it runs out of this fuel, it needs replenishment. "The stomach contains receptors that signal hunger and satiety," she says. The hormone ghrelin escalates before meals, and drops after eating, while leptin, which is another hormone made in fat cells, informs the brain that it has adequate energy and there’s no need to consume food.
There's more to the story than just ghrelin and leptin. What if constant hunger is a sign of something else? There are several reasons, both physical and psychological, why you might be hungry right now and how to fix it.
What’s on your plate?
Unbalanced meals can be a culprit.
“Your meals may be off balance,” explains El-Shafie. “You're likely to experience hunger if your meals don't have enough protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates and fiber.” Wissam Ghach, Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health, Canadian University Dubai, explains why we need fibers. "Fibers can absorb a big quality of water inside our gut, can slow down the digestion and absorption processes in our small intestine. Moreover, the fermentation of food fibers by our gut bacteria can synthesise short fatty acids that influence the release of appetite hormones during the day," he says. Proteins are just as essential: It reduces our appetite by suppressing hunger-related hormones and promotes a feeling of satiation. So, when the balance between all these elements are off, you could feel hungry.
Another reason behind rapid hunger pangs? You could also be including too many refined carbohydrates, such as cakes, sweets, and pastries, which cause your blood sugar levels to fluctuate.
You're likely to experience hunger if your meals don't have enough protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates and fiber.
Carb-heavy diets are delicious and might give you that energy boost, but they might leave you rather unfilled. Anna George, an Indian Abu Dhabi-based clinical dietician explains why. We digest our carbohydrates quickly. However, our body takes times with proteins and healthy fats, such as nuts and avocados. “As a result, we’re full for much longer."
Fibers can absorb a big quality of water inside our gut, and slow down the digestion and absorption processes in our small intestine. Moreover, the fermentation of food fibers by our gut bacteria can synthesise short fatty acids that influence the release of appetite hormones during the day...
The problem with sugar
A few sugary treats once in a while is fine, but what happens if you make it a habit?
If your diet is heavy in refined sugars, such as juice, candy, pastries and flavoured yoghurts, it can result in serious hunger pangs, explains George. These food items are digested quickly, which leads to the spike in sugar levels. And so, you feel hungry in an hour or so. So what’s the fix? You might want to lay off the sweets as snacks, add in protein and healthy fats to meals whenever possible.
Moreover, as El-Shafie warns, don’t eat so quickly. “Your body needs about 20 minutes to register satiation. Eating slowly and chewing your food well means you won’t miss satiety signals,” she says.
A switch to low-fat diets
If you thought that by switching to low-fat foods diet would be a healthy option, you might actually be fueling your hunger. Ironically, this might be causing you to eat often, explains research.
According to a 2011 study published in the US-based National Library of Medicine, people who eat low-fat foods are often even hungrier than those who eat a high-carbohydrate diet. Instead of switching to an all low-fat diet, try including healthy fats, advises George. This could include nuts, which keeps you full for longer, and help you fight those cravings.
The lack of sleep
Sleep and hunger share a deep connection. El-Shafie explains, “Sleep deprivation leads to a rise in the hunger hormone ghrelin – so sleep hygiene should be prioritised. It's also harder to sleep when we are hungry.”
Research proves this too. According to a 2024 study, The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Hormones and Metabolism, published in the academic journal Medscape, sleep leads to hunger by altering hunger hormones. It compels you to crave high fat foods, such as sweet treats instead of your vegetables. The only solution? Fix your sleep patterns. As research shows, when you have better sleep hygiene, your body is more equipped to process the food you do eat.
Dehydration
Ditch the afternoon snack. Did you know that even mild dehydration can mimic hunger pangs? George recommends reaching for water first thing in the morning, around 16 ounces, to keep your body hydrated and avoid unnecessary snacking throughout the day.
Distracted eating
It’s all fun and games to munch food while watching Netflix, but according to the dieticians, eating when you’re distracted, fuels your hunger pangs later on.
As George explains, “Our brain is busy when watching television or talking; it isn’t registering the fact that we’ve eaten. This means, we’ll forget and feel like we need to eat sooner rather than later. So, try to focus on your food when you eat, so you reduce hunger.”
When emotions ‘mimic’ the physical cues for hunger
Food is not just a requirement for the body to sustain; it’s deeply intertwined with our emotional well-being.
Louise McDonnell, a Dubai-based psychologist at the LightHouse Arabia wellness clinic elaborates on the underlying psychological reasons with examples. Do you tell yourself that you deserve a sweet treat at the end of a tough day? Or when lonely, do you reach for the ingredients to make a much-loved recipe that your grandmother used to make for you as a child?
“As eating is fundamentally a rewarding behaviour, it is intrinsically linked to mood and emotions. When we are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, sad or lonely, the dopamine hit of comfort food is just one click away from arriving at our front door,” she explains. These stressors and the associated emotions mimic the physical cues for hunger. As she clarifies, ‘psychological hunger’ is not a desire to eat to satisfy the pangs of hunger, it is a need for comfort.
As eating is fundamentally a rewarding behaviour, it is intrinsically linked to mood and emotions. When we are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, sad or lonely, the dopamine hit of comfort food is just one click away from arriving at our front door...
McDonnell explains, “While responding to your emotional needs through food is now a human norm, over time, these eating patterns affect your true sense of hunger, and may form destructive eating habits and they avoid true attention to your emotional self. Furthermore, while emotional eating is likely to help alleviate distress in the short term, it often leads to feelings of shame, guilt, and regret.”
Moreover, there’s an intricate play of dysfunctional lifestyle patterns too. If your sleep patterns are fractured owing to stress, the stress escalates and affects your hunger levels. “In the short-term stress might suppress hunger,” adds George. However in the long run, it leads to elevated cortisol levels. “Unlike epinephrine, the hormone that stops you from eating, high levels of cortisols increase your appetite. So, it is paramount to keep your stress under control, as that is the effective method of keeping your hunger patterns under control.” It’s all linked and intricately connected: Keeping your stress under control, encourages better eating and sleeping habits, she says. It’s key to a healthier, balanced lifestyle, too.
How do we address hunger?
In order to recalibrate disturbed eating patterns, start by implementing a regular eating schedule, explains El-Shafie. “Ideally, breakfast, lunch and dinner, interspersed with two to three snacks. Sticking to regular timing, will help you determine if your hunger is physiological or psychological. If you feel hungry outside your regular pattern, ask yourself ‘When did I last eat? Am I hungry or is this an emotional need?’” she suggests.
Another suggestion is, keeping a food diary, which is a helpful way to monitor your intake. El-Shafie continues, “See if there are any significant changes to your routine, frequency, or amount of eating. Identifying patterns in your food intake, can really help you understand what's behind your hunger so you can start to make the necessary changes,” she says.
Eat slowly and without distraction, observe the taste, texture and experience of food. Notice when you feel full and cease eating, advises El-Shafie. Wissam also adds, physical exercises can control our stress via reducing the levels of “cortisol” hormone, which usually stimulate our feeling of hunger.
