Why am I so Hungry?

Top reasons why appetite can be increased include:

1. Low blood sugar – you simply haven’t eaten in a while and your body needs more nutrients to make energy
2. Fluctuating blood sugar – if you consume high carbohydrates like starches and sugar, your blood sugar goes up quickly stimulating the release of high amounts of insulin, then your blood sugar drops because insulin tells the body to store energy, then your blood sugar drops making your brain stimulate hunger
3.  Your brain has a body weight set point – if you try to lower calorie intake or increase calorie expenditure too much too quickly, your brain will make you feel hungry.  This is why it is very important to reduce calories slowly, or to burn more calories gradually
4. Leptin resistance – leptin is a hormone made by fat cells when you consume fat that tells your brain you are no longer hungry.  If you eat food all the time (as almost all extra calories are stored as fat) then the leptin receptors in the brain can become resistant to the hormone.  This is why we can’t just take leptin as a supplement to control appetite.  You can regain leptin sensitivity with some intermittent fasting.
5. Low protein intake – consuming more protein will help to control your appetite because it has a stronger effect on stimulating 2 important satiety hormones, GLP (glucagon-like peptide), and ghrelin.  
6. Low fat intake – consuming healthy fats (olive oil, animal fats, coconut oil, butter, ghee and avoiding refined processed seed oils like canola and vegetable oil), stimulates the small intestine to produce a hormone called CCK (cholecystokinin) that tells the brain you are full.
7. Low fiber intake – fiber, which is undigestible carbohydrate found in foods like vegetables, fruit, seeds, nuts, and whole grains, adds bulk to our meals causing us to feel full before we consume excess calories in a meal.
8. Low micronutrients – we need to consume a variety of healthy whole foods, meats, fish, eggs, vegetables of all colours, roots (potatoes, carrots, beets, onions etc), legumes (beans, peas, lentils), whole grains, and sprouts so that we are taking in vitamins and minerals that are required for cells to make energy.  Being deficient in micronutrients can stimulate hunger.
9. Poor gut microbiome – the microorganisms that live in your digestive tract can send signals to your brain to make you crave sugar or carbs.  If you consume a lot of junk foods then it affects the population of organisms so that the species that like to eat sugar (such as Candida yeast), they will want you to keep eating those foods.  
10. Mood – if you feel stress, sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety kinds of moods, then your brain will trigger you to crave comfort foods, usually starches or sugars such as ice-cream, baked goods, potato chips, chocolate etc because these foods have the most impact on the production of serotonin.  This is a hormone that makes you feel calm and good.  
11. Stress – any kind of stress including emotional, pain, injuries, sickness, lack of sleep, or physical (high intensity or long duration exercise), can make you crave high energy foods like carbs and fat, partly because of needing serotonin, and partly because stress requires more energy.
12. Getting sick – when we start to get a cold or flu we can have an increased appetite because your body knows it is going to require more energy to fight the infection.
13. Inflammation – When we are exposed to toxins or injuries or chronic inflammatory conditions, this stimulates the immune system to over-react requiring energy.  
14. Low ability to use ketones and fats for energy – when we consume food all through the day then we are constantly making insulin that tells the body to store energy and our cells depend primarily on blood sugar to make energy (ATP).  When you have periods of time when you do not eat then the body has to learn to go to the fat storage for energy.  Time-restricted eating is a great way to mitigate this.
15. You recently increased activity level – when you add a new exercise program or increase activity level, your body will react by making you hungry because you are burning more calories, slow and steady changes can prevent this.
16. Drinking calories – calories consumed in liquid form tend to not reduce our appetite.  For example, if you consume a high sugar juice drink and then eat a meal, you will tend to still eat the same amount of calories as if you drank water.
17. Not drinking enough water – the hunger and thirst centers of the brain are both in the hypothalamus and being thirsty can sometimes feel like hunger.  If hungry before meal time, try drinking a glass of water.
18. Circadian rhythm – our body likes to have a routine.  If we travel or work shift work, the brain can perceive this as a type of stress and can increase your appetite.
19. Social cues or boredom – if you always consume food when socializing then the brain will tend to trigger hunger in a social environment even if you ate recently.  The same thing can happen with any kind of pattern.  It is a good idea to not create eating patterns such as eating while watching tv or eating in bed because your brain will want to keep that pattern.
20. Hormone imbalances – many hormones play a role in energy production and appetite, and if these are imbalanced then it can make you feel hungry, examples include, low thyroid function, excess cortisol (stress), low estrogen (menopause), high insulin, low leptin, low DHEA (type of androgen).
21. Belly fat – if you have excess abdominal fat, then you will have increased inflammatory molecules that can trigger hunger.
22. Drugs or medications – anti-depressants, alcohol, and antihistamines are examples of substances that cause the brain to increase appetite.
23. Quitting smoking – nicotine is a type of stimulant, all stimulants decrease appetite, so someone that quits smoking may go through a period of time of increased appetite because the stimulant effect is no longer present.