The term food noise is a circulating phrase that embodies the constant background chatter in an individual’s mind about food. These thoughts can be overwhelming and can prevent someone from maintaining a healthy relationship with their eating schedule.
Typically, when you feel hungry, your stomach will send a series of hormones and nerve signals through the body, leading the brain to respond by enforcing conscious hunger cues. This is different from food noise because these signals are normal and should not be drowned out. People who suffer from food noise are almost always aware of their conscious hunger cues. When these constant thoughts about food aren’t quiet, it can be hard to have a normal day.
Now, how to stop food noise? That’s the million-dollar question.
What Causes Food Noise?
Food noise can develop at any time. It may be something that starts during childhood and presents as a constant need to fill boredom, or it can be something that triggers as an adult. Learning about the pressing thoughts and understanding what causes food noise can be the first steps in subduing it.
There are many reasons why a person may develop constant food noise, including environmental, biological, and mental factors like:
- Food choices: Eating an ultra-processed diet can lead to excessive food noise for a few reasons. Firstly, these foods are designed to activate the reward center in the brain, making them more addictive. Second, because many ultra-processed and packaged foods have filler ingredients, they don’t always provide enough sustenance to keep a stomach full.
- Hormones: An over-production of hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin can result in overwhelming and unnecessary thoughts about food. A spike in hormones can onset for many reasons, so it is best to work with a doctor to determine why hunger hormones are unregulated.
- External cues: If you are constantly around delicious food all day — maybe if you work in a restaurant or bakery — that can stimulate hunger cues. Also, seeing food-related marketing is known to increase the desire to eat.
- Medical conditions and medication: Certain medical conditions like hyperthyroidism and diabetes are known to increase hunger and thoughts of eating. Moreover, some medications have side effects that can change your appetite. Always talk with your medical provider about the effects of any new medications.
- Food trauma: Past history with eating disorders or food scarcity can lead to food-related trauma later in life. One of the many ways that food-related trauma presents itself is through food noise.
- Over-restriction: Following an overly restrictive diet can result in excessive food noise. When a diet is always on your mind, food will always be on your mind. That could be counterproductive in the long run, leading to intense cravings and constant thoughts about food.
How Food Noise Differs From Hunger
For someone with non-stop thoughts about food, it can be hard to differentiate between food noise and true hunger cues. Because they feel the same in the individual’s mind, trying to highlight the differences based on symptoms can be challenging. However, you can learn the difference between food noise and hunger by having a mindful eating schedule.
You can try keeping a journal of your meals and how they make you feel, and use it to study your hunger cues. This can be a beneficial food noise treatment because a journal can highlight eating patterns you may not notice in your day-to-day life. Once you determine when and why you are listening to the chatter in your head, you’ll have an easier time overcoming it.
Also, you can try habits like meal-planning. This is proven to be beneficial for people who sufferr from foodnoise because the routine of cooking your own food and setting a schedule to eat during the week will eventually rtain you brain to prepare for meals, which may just starrt to quiet food noise.
Ways to Quiet Food Noise
Work on stress and sleep
Stress hormones like cortisol can increase appetite because of a glucocorticoid activation that stimulates the cravings for highly palatable foods. This is one of the reasons why people crave ‘cheat foods’ when they are stressed or tense.
Moreover, an improper sleep schedule can make it hard to quiet food noise because irregular sleep contributes to the overproduction of hunger hormones and even impairs frontal lobe activity. This combination can produce results like overeating and unnecessary cravings.
Eat more often
Having more calorie-dense and nutrient-rich meals throughout the day proves to help curb the background thoughts about food. For some people, food noise is a response from the body due to an improper diet lacking one or more essential nutrients. When your body isn’t getting what it needs, it will find creative ways to warn you.
Look for patterns
The best way to find a food noise treatment is to look for patterns in your life. Is there a specific trigger that makes you hungry? Is it the time of day? If you can find a common denominator that keeps persisting, you may be able to address it by targeting the pattern.
Eat more mindfully
What you eat and when you decide to enjoy a meal can significantly change how your body processes the food. For example, eating while working may save time but it can be more unproductive than the individual realizes because distracted eating can result in more persistent hunger cues after finishing the meal. In some cases, this can be so distracting you can’t work productively anyway!
Make a Plan to Quiet Food Noise
Turning down the food noise may be more of a journey than an on-and-off switch. It’s important to start by making a plan to overcome the loud chatter and then commit to it. When you get to the hard stretch of the journey, having a plan to stick to can be like a quintessential map that’ll get you out of the jungle. First, you want to identify what the cause of your food noise is. Then, address it with practical strategies that directly tackle the cause. For example, if your food noise is related to environmental triggers like social media ads, try consuming different content.
If you determine that environmental factors are not the cause, you may need to consult with your doctor to pinpoint a medical explanation. Then, your medical provider can outline a plan of action that may include medication or lifestyle changes.
Silencing Food Noise
When you think about how to eliminate food noise, your perspective should be focused on creating balance and building a positive connection with food and mealtime. It can be annoying to constantly live with thoughts of food, but you shouldn’t take it out on your body by overly restricting when you decide to take charge. The best food noise treatment will always target the root cause of the persistent thoughts, so the journey starts with learning a little bit more about yourself!
