What’s Your Hunger Trigger?

Why are you hungry? If you haven’t eaten in 8 hours, then you know the answer. But what if you’ve eaten recently? Why are you still hungry? Here are triggers that cause us to crave food – whether we’re famished or stuffed.

Hunger trigger #1: The time of day. Let’s say you had a good snack at 11:00, but you’re starving again at noon. What’s the deal? It’s because we condition our bodies to expect meals at the same time each day. So if you’ve eaten lunch at noon for the past year, your body is conditioned to expect food at that time – whether you’re hungry or not. Your stomach will start producing digestive enzymes in anticipation of food – and you may even start to salivate more.

The next hunger trigger: Smell. When we smell food, it can induce the insulin secretion that makes us think we’re hungry. So even if you’re full, catching a whiff of something delicious can make you crave food.

And one final hunger trigger: Temperature. The colder the temperature, the more people tend to eat. That’s because eating warms you up. So if you have the AC cranked up, put on a sweater and see if you’re still hungry.