Why You Can’t Stop Thinking About Food

“Food noise” refers to persistent and intrusive thoughts about food, including thoughts of your next meal, intense cravings, and anxiety about not having access to food. Food noise occurs even in the absence of hunger. Some people experience food noise nearly constantly. Food noise is not only distracting, but it also makes it very difficult to stick to a healthy diet.

Let’s dive into the neurobiology

Food noise is driven by appetite hormones¹ and dopamine,² a neurotransmitter that manages the brain’s reward system. People naturally vary in appetite hormone levels and in the impact of food on dopamine. This is why some people have insatiable appetites, whereas others barely notice the urge to eat.³ People with hefty appetites sometimes get shamed by people with smaller appetites, but the truth is that appetite is heavily driven by biology.¹ Also biologically determined is the size of the dopamine hit a person gets from food, and the bigger the hit, the more intense the food noise. We can’t change our neurobiology, but there are other factors that affect food noise that we can control.

6 things that intensify food noise

1. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) turn the volume up on food noise because they are packed with sugar, salt, and fat, which overstimulate dopamine pathways.⁴ UPFs also spike blood sugar, which leads to an energy crash and a spike in hunger later. This wreaks havoc on appetite hormones. Reducing intake of UPFs will reduce food noise. Learn more about which foods are UPFs here.
2. Stress impacts food noise via the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that causes blood sugar to spike and then crash. We "stress eat" because cortisol sends our blood sugar on a rollercoaster. Reducing stress will do wonders toward quieting food noise.
3. Sleep deprivation: Do you feel really hungry the day after a bad night of sleep? This is because your brain modulates appetite hormone levels based on how many hours your body has been awake—it is wired to make sure you have the energy to be awake so long.⁶ More awake time means more appetite hormones, which means more food noise the next day. Even though lying awake in bed for hours doesn’t burn many calories, your brain blasts you with food noise the next day anyway. Adding insult to injury, poor sleep also raises cortisol, which further ramps up food noise.⁷ Poor sleep also decreases activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area of our brain that is responsible for self-control.⁸ Sleep deprivation really is the perfect storm to throw your weight loss effort into a tailspin by amping up food noise, crashing blood sugar, and weakening self-control. I tell my patients, “If you want to lose weight and you are a terrible sleeper, address the sleep first. It will be very hard to do it the other way around.”
4. Skipping meals or otherwise going long periods without eating heightens food-related brain activity.⁹ Appetite hormones spike and dopamine pathways can become dysregulated, which means food noise gets louder. Making matters worse, skipping meals triggers cortisol, the other food noise culprit.
5. Being near tempting foods: Appetite-related brain activity is stimulated not only by the sight and smell of food but also by the knowledge that food is nearby.¹⁰ That means that the box of Oreos tucked away in the cabinet can trigger food noise simply because you know it is there. Keeping tempting foods out of the house and wherever you spend large blocks of time is an essential step in quelling food noise.
6. Boredom and loneliness: As if being lonely and bored isn't bad enough, these moods trigger food noise, given that they are associated with low dopamine levels.¹¹ When understimulated, our brains search for the nearest dopamine hit. Because food is so accessible, we often turn to it for that hit.

4 things that quiet food noise

1. Exercise: It really is the wonder drug, isn't it? Exercise suppresses appetite for a few hours and increases the hormones that turn off food noise.¹² Exercise also reduces cortisol and increases dopamine, which calms food noise.¹³ As a bonus, exercise also increases activation in the parts of your brain responsible for self-control, which strengthens your resolve to stick to a healthy diet.
2. A high-fiber diet quiets food noise because fiber slows gastric emptying, which keeps hunger at bay.¹⁴ Fiber also keeps your blood sugar regulated—which means no spikes and crashes. The American Heart Association recommends consuming 25-30 grams of fiber daily.¹⁵ Keep in mind that if your high-fiber diet is also high in UPFs, you will still be feeding your food noise. Instead, try to replace UPFs with high-fiber alternatives.
3. High-protein breakfasts quell food noise by increasing satiety hormones¹⁶and regulating blood sugar more so than high-carbohydrate breakfasts.¹⁷ Switching your snacks to high-protein options can also decrease food noise between meals.
4. Outsmarting Pavlov: We inadvertently condition our brains to release appetite hormones in certain circumstances. For example, if you often eat chips while watching TV, eventually the TV will trigger appetite hormones, and you will experience this as food noise. Just like Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell, you’ve conditioned your brain to salivate to the warm glare of the TV. Thankfully, Pavlov also discovered that the same process that conditioned his dogs to salivate to a bell can undo that conditioning.¹⁸ He did this by ringing the bell multiple times without presenting food. Eventually, the dogs stopped salivating at the sound of the bell. By repeatedly watching TV without food, your food noise will diminish, too.

If you struggle with food noise, know that it is not your fault: Some brains are just wired this way. You can fight back, though, by getting plenty of sleep and exercise, keeping stress levels under control, and swapping out those UPFs for high-fiber and high-protein options.