Have you ever eaten your meal and started thinking immediately about what you’ll eat after that? Do you find yourself unable to focus because of your constant thinking of food?
Feeling of hunger is a natural matter, and the intestine usually sends signals to the brain when your body needs food, and our emotions and customs may also affect our relationship with food, so people sometimes eat entertainment or pleasure or as part of social occasions, and they may eat out of boredom or to calm themselves after a hard day.
But at other times, a person cannot stop thinking about food and his thoughts about what he should eat is excessive and urgent, and this phenomenon is referred to as “food noise”.
What is the noise of the food?
Food noise is not a diagnostic term or independent disorder, but it is a concept that has begun to spread since 2023 among the users of the Tech Tuk application to celebrities such as the media Opera Winfrey who talked about her own experience to silence her food noise and maintain less weight.
The term “food noise” refers to the continuous mental concern of food and eating it and it can also be referred to as “nutritional gossip” that revolves in the mind in the form of monologue or internal dialogue that focuses on planning the next meal, and the person often responds to hunger, yet the sounds continue to be transcended in the back of his mind, so he eats again, and so on.
Many patients pointed out that this torrent of annoying ideas is similar to the operation of a frequent audio tape in their heads around the clock about what must be taken in the next meal, when, where, the amount of food, its smell, shape and taste, as if there is a feeling of continuous hunger that controls their brains and does not calm down until they eat something, and this of course hinders them from being completely in the current moment or engaging in other activities.
According to a research published by the journal (Needos) in 2023, the matter turns to the point of feeling as if the entire life of a person is centered around food, and the researchers explained that this may lead to unhealthy food patterns such as emotional eating and eating as a mechanism to adapt to stress and other feelings.
Who is affected by food noise?
Anyone may suffer from food noise, but it more affects people who suffer from weight loss difficulties, and a study conducted by the (Witt and Treshas) Foundation found in 2024 that 57% of people with weight gain are controlled by constant and disturbing ideas about food, and that only 12% are familiar with the term “noise of food”.
However, harsh diets are not a solution to alleviate this noise, the nutritionist, Tania Hargrif Klein, says to the “Ecuup Health” website, that feeling hungry or reducing food can cause food noise inside anyone, as your body sees that the calories reduce a threat to it, increasing the noise to encourage you to eat what it considers natural.
“This may lead to a vicious circle of hunger, followed by an irreplaceable eating food, and this is repeated daily, leaving the individual with escalating feelings of guilt and shame,” Hargrif added.
The psychiatrist, David Krill, told the (Webbad) website that the problem lies in how we responded to our food noise, as this noise may form a real problem if you lead us to eat unhealthy food or eat large quantities of calories, which leads to obesity or exacerbation and the development of complications associated with it.
The noise of food may be accompanied by a sense of guilt and negatively affects the quality of daily life and distracts the individual’s attention from accomplishing his basic tasks, for example, you are supposed to focus in work or follow a conversation with interest, but your mind is busy planning for what you will address on dinner or calculating calories in the dessert offered at the table, and this continuous internal gossip around the food and the image of the body may be an emotional and cause For psychological disorders such as anxiety, isolation and low self -esteem, according to what the psychiatrist, Susan Albrez, referred to in an article on her (Psychology Today) website.
Options to silence or calm food noise
You can get rid of the noise of food or at least reduce it by following some strategies, including:
A healthy diet: Manufactured foods, focus on whole foods, should be reduced and eating vegetables, beans, legumes, fruits and fiber -rich grains, as well as nuts, seeds, fish and healthy fats, to enhance the feeling of satiety.
Eating regularly: Skipping meals or restricting calories significantly can provoke the noise of food, so try to eat 3 to 4 meals per day, and get enough protein and fiber.
Conscious eating practice: A published research in the patrol (diabetes) in 2017 showed that eating slowly and reducing the distractions helps to satisfy your appetite, so try to chew the food well and enjoy every bite and stop as soon as you feel full.
Organizing sleep hours: The duration of your sleep affects how your brain responds to food signals, and a study published in the “Optty” magazine in 2023 showed that only one night of lack of sleep can reduce the levels of the hormone leptin, a hormone that helps you feel full, and increases the levels of gramein hormone, which makes you more hungry.
Tension control: When you feel anxious, emotional, or uncomfortable, you may think of food, especially as it promotes a temporary improvement, so try to find positive ways to manage stress and anxiety such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, communication with others, practice physical activity or enjoy nature and listen to music.
Modify your food environment: Simple changes in your environment can help reduce the number of nutritional signals you face daily. For example: If the ice cream is the food you want to reduce eating, do not put it in the front of the refrigerator where you see it all the time.
Consult a specialist doctor: You may need to communicate with a specialist or a nutritionist, and some weight loss medications such as Ozimbek and Mongaro are an appropriate option, but it should be careful, as stopping to take it may enhance weight restoring.
