I’m trying to lose weight and eat healthy. Why am I so hungry all the time?

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, famously said: Nothing is certain except death and taxes. But I think we can include “you will feel hungry when you try to lose weight” as another certainty.

The reason is basic biology. So how does this work and what can you do about it?

Hormones control our feelings of hunger.

Several hormones play an essential role in regulating our feelings of hunger and satiety. The most important are ghrelin, often called the hunger hormone, and leptin.

When we are hungry, ghrelin It is released by our stomach, lighting up a part of our brain called the hypothalamus to tell us to eat.

When it’s time to stop eating, hormones, including leptinThey are released from different organs, such as the intestine and fatty tissue, to signal to the brain that we are full.

Dieting interrupts the process

But when we change our diet and start losing weight, we alter the way these Function of appetite hormones..

This triggers a process that comes from our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Their bodies developed this mechanism as a survival response to adapt to periods of deprivation and protect against starvation.

Hormone levels. manage our increased hungermaking us feel hungrier to tell us to eat more, while those responsible for signaling that we are full decrease their levels, intensifying our sensation of hunger.

We end up increasing our calorie intake so we eat more to regain the lost weight.

But what’s worse, even after the pounds pile back on, our appetite hormones are not restored to their normal levels: they keep telling us to eat more so that we gain a little more weight. This is the way our body prepares for the next attack of starvation that we will impose through diet.

Fortunately, there are things we can do to control our appetite, including:

1. Eat a hearty and healthy breakfast every day

One of the easiest ways to control our feelings of hunger throughout the day is to eat most of our food earlier in the day and reduce meal sizes so that dinner is the smallest meal.

Investigation shows that a small or low-calorie breakfast increases feelings of hunger, specifically the appetite for sweets, throughout the day.

another study found the same effect. Participants followed a calorie-controlled diet for two months, in which they ate 45 percent of their calories at breakfast, 35 percent at lunch and 20 percent at dinner for the first month, before move on to eat your most important meal at night. and the little ones in the morning. Eating the largest meal at breakfast resulted in decreased hunger throughout the day.

Investigation It also shows that we burn the calories from a meal 2.5 times more efficiently in the morning than in the evening. Therefore, emphasizing breakfast instead of dinner is good not only for controlling hunger but also for controlling weight.

Protein-rich foods, like eggs, make us feel fuller longer.(ABC Rural: Meg Powell)

2. Prioritize proteins

Protein helps contain the feeling of hunger. This is because protein-rich foods, such as lean meats, tofu, and beans, suppress ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, and stimulate another hormone called YY peptide That makes you feel full.

And just as eating breakfast is vital to controlling hunger, what we eat is also important, with investigation Confirming a breakfast that contains protein-rich foods, such as eggs, will make us feel fuller for longer.

But this doesn’t just mean eating protein foods. Meals should be balanced and include a source of protein, whole grain carbohydrates and healthy fats to meet our dietary needs. For example, eggs on whole wheat toast with avocado.

3. Fill yourself with nuts and foods rich in good fats and fiber

Nuts often get a bad rap (thanks to the misconception that they cause weight gain), but they can help us control hunger and weight. The filling fiber and good fats found in nuts take longer to digest, which means our hunger is satisfied for longer.

Studies We suggest that you can include up to 68 grams of nuts daily without affecting your weight.

Avocados are also rich in fiber and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, making them another great food for managing feelings of fullness. This is supported by a study confirming that participants who ate a breakfast that included avocado felt more satisfied and less hungry than participants who ate a meal containing the same calories but lower fat and fiber.

Similarly, eating foods high in soluble fiber, such as beans and vegetables, make us feel fuller. This type of fiber attracts water from our intestines, forming a gel that slows down digestion.

4. Eat consciously

When we take the time to really be mindful and enjoy the foods we eat, we slow down and eat much less.

TO review of 68 studies found that mindful eating helps us better recognize the feeling of satiety. Mindful eating gives our brain enough time to recognize and adapt to the signals from our stomach that tell us we are full.

Reduce your food consumption by sitting at the table and use smaller utensils to reduce the volume of food you eat with each bite.

5. Get enough sleep

Lack of sleep disturbs our appetite hormonesincreasing our feeling of hunger and triggering cravings. Therefore, try to get at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.

Try turning off your devices two hours before bedtime to increase the body’s secretion of sleep-inducing hormones such as melatonin.

6. Manage stress

Stress increases our cortisol production in the body and triggers food cravings.

So take time when you need it and set aside time for stress-relieving activities. This can be as simple as getting outdoors.

TO study 2019 It was found that sitting or walking outdoors at least three times a week could reduce cortisol levels by 21 percent.

7. Avoid depriving ourselves

When we change our diet to lose weight or eat healthier, we typically restrict certain foods or food groups.

However, this increases activity in our mesocorticolimbic circuit, the part of the brain that has the reward system, which often causes us to crave foods we try to avoid. Foods that give us pleasure release feel-good chemicals called endorphins and learning chemicals called dopamine, which allow us to remember and give in to that feel-good response.

When we change our diet, the activity of our hypothalamus (the intelligent part of the brain that regulates emotions and food intake) also reduces, decreasing our control and judgment. It often triggers a psychological response called the “what the hell effect,” when we indulge in something we think we shouldn’t feel guilty about and then go back for more.

Don’t completely eliminate your favorite foods when you go on a diet or deprive yourself if you’re hungry. It will take away the pleasure of eating and you will eventually give in to your cravings.

Nick Fuller is the research program leader at the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney. This piece first appeared in The conversation.