We all think about food. It’s delicious, it can bring people together and it fuels our bodies to help us do the things we love. 

It’s impossible not to think about food – it’s a key piece of keeping us surviving and thriving. But some people have so many thoughts about food that rather than being helpful, those thoughts just become noise. Let’s explore exactly what “food noise” is, when it might become a problem, and the best way to quiet those distracting thoughts.

What Is Food Noise?

The term “food noise” is kind of exactly what it sounds like: thoughts about food that happen so often or become so intrusive that they feel “noisy.” They start taking up a lot of space in your brain, to the point where you might feel like you’re “obsessed” with food.

Like we just mentioned, thinking about food or thinking about the fact that you’re hungry isn’t a bad thing. It’s a regular bodily response to needing more fuel. But being hungry is different from food noise.

Hunger cues tell your body when it’s time to start eating and when it’s time to stop. These systems work through hormonal messages sent between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract and are crucial for keeping us alive. These cues are usually physical or emotional: you feel your stomach start to rumble, you feel sluggish and tired, or you get irritable. 

Food noise is more of a mental experience that isn’t necessarily directly tied to feeling hungry. It’s constant thoughts about food, when or what you’re going to eat next, etc. It’s the feeling of food being at the top of your mind all the time, no matter when you last ate.

What Contributes to Food Noise?

Even though we just walked through some of the distinctions between food noise and regular hunger, those hunger cues can certainly be a contributing factor to food noise. It’s quite likely that as you get hungrier, you’ll start thinking about food more and more.

Your environment can be a huge contributing factor to food noise. For example, some people are triggered by having certain food in the house: sweets, chips, etc. Meanwhile others can be triggered by not having those more palpable foods in the house, the appeal for them and obsessive thoughts being heightened because they are not readily available. 

Other factors that could contribute to food noise include:

• Feeling high levels of stress
• Not sleeping enough
• Overly restricting your diet
• Certain health conditions
• Certain medications

Some experts believe that some people might simply be more or less genetically wired to experience food noise, related to how the brain and the gastrointestinal tract communicate. Others believe your experience of food noise depends entirely on your environment and your learned relationship with food.

Whatever the exact cause, there are some groups of people that are more likely to experience high levels of food noise. Usually those who have a body mass index (BMI) categorized as obese and those who have or have had an eating disorder experience more food noise.

When Is Food Noise a “Problem”?

Like we touched on before, it is normal to think about food to some extent because it can help signal that you’re hungry and it’s time to refuel. This really only becomes a problem when it starts to feel like these thoughts are directly and negatively impacting your everyday life. 

Food noise that steps in and helps you figure out what to make for dinner is helpful food noise. Food noise usually crosses the line into “harmful” or “problematic” when it feels like it’s occurring all day, every day and interferes with your well-being.

Are you getting distracted from your daily work tasks because you’re always thinking about your next meal? Are you unable to focus on hobbies that usually bring you joy because you’re ruminating on whether you should get a snack? Is it impacting your relationships or social interactions because you’re so focused on the food aspects of a get together or event? If the answers to these questions were yes, then they might indicate that the food noise is becoming more of a problem.

How to Quiet Food Noise: 6 Tips

So, if you feel overwhelmed by food noise and you feel like it’s time to make a change, what can you do? First, it’s important to remember that your healthcare provider can be a critical resource for you: don’t hesitate to speak with them about your experience and see if they can help you make a plan to help you reduce food noise.

The following tips can also be helpful in curbing the amount of food noise you’re experiencing and bringing it back down to a level that’s manageable.

1. Eat Regularly

Not eating regularly enough – or not eating enough, period – can increase the number of thoughts you’re having about food. When you push through your hunger cues and wait too long to eat, usually the result is getting excessively hungry. At this point, the food noise is likely so loud it’s almost impossible to ignore. And, if this becomes a habit, the food noise might become more ingrained in your thought patterns as your body tries to encourage you to eat.

Ensure you’re eating well-balanced meals regularly throughout the day, and try to focus on including protein in those meals to help keep you feeling full for longer. You should be aiming to eat about 3 or 4 times a day.

2. Practice Mindful Eating

How you eat – not just when, or how often – can also have a big impact on how much you think about food. The more you eat mindfully, paying attention to the physical cues from your body, the more you can start to parse through the food noise in your head.

This isn’t necessarily easy, but practicing mindfulness when you eat can help you be more present, enjoy the experience more, and build a strong relationship with food and your body.

When you slow down and really savor the bites you’re taking of your food, you can tune into the experience and how your body feels. Think about the taste of your food, the texture, how it smells, etc. The more present you are, usually the more satisfied you’ll feel, and this can often help quiet food noise.

3. Tweak Your Environment (When You Can)

For many people, food noise can be triggered by what they encounter in their environments. You might see numerous food-related ads, walk past a delicious-smelling bakery, or be able to see the snacks in the break room from where you sit at your desk in the office. All of these things can contribute to louder food noise, since seeing food that looks delicious usually reminds us of how good it actually tastes. And while all of these things are not necessarily in your control, some of them are.

If you find that your environment is contributing significantly to the food noise you experience, focus on what you can change. If you think about ice cream all the time, for example, change where you keep it in the freezer – maybe stash it in the corner rather than front and center, so it’s not the first thing you see when you open the door. Or, if you can see the bowl of snacks in the break room from your desk, see if you can shift the bowl out of your line of sight.

On the flip side, if you’re somebody who’s food noise is heightened when you restrict yourself from your favorite treats or snacks, make sure to keep some around so that you can enjoy them in moderation.

This also extends beyond your physical environment to your digital one. There are a lot of advertisements and content online and on social media that center on food, and some of them may even unconsciously promote unhealthy eating behaviors. Consider unfollowing accounts that contribute to food noise or trigger cravings for you.

4. Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is important for so many aspects of your health, and your mental well-being is certainly one of them. When we don’t get enough sleep, it generally makes us feel sluggish, irritable, and underfueled. The hormone ghrelin, which makes us feel hungry, becomes elevated. The hormone leptin, which makes us feel full, decreases. You also may find yourself thinking about food more because eating can provide a quick boost of energy we might not otherwise feel. 

The more often you can get a good night of high-quality sleep, the more your body will be able to regulate your hormones and hunger cues, keeping your hunger and food noise at manageable levels.

5. Practice Stress Management

High levels of stress can also amplify food noise, so finding stress management techniques that work for you can also help you quiet your thoughts around food. 

Everyone might have different methods of managing their stress that work for them, but you can try deep breathing exercises, regularly exercising or staying active, meditation, yoga, spending time in a place that makes you feel safe (like nature), or spending time with loved ones. If you feel like stress is really having a negative impact on your life, it could be a good idea to seek professional support through mental health counseling to start developing strong coping mechanisms for managing stress.

6. Explore the Possibility of Weight Loss Medications

As mentioned earlier, individuals whose BMI is categorized as obese may experience higher levels of food noise. For these individuals, the newer obesity medications may be an option. 

These medications are called glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists (GLP-1s). They were originally developed to help regulate blood sugar levels and treat type 2 diabetes, but given how new they are, researchers and healthcare professionals are still learning about potential uses, benefits, and side effects. They have also been found to help with weight loss.

Anecdotally, individuals who have taken these medications report that they find themselves thinking about food less. No one knows exactly why this is the case. These medications impact how the body processes and digests food, so it’s possible that people think about food less because it’s taking their bodies longer to digest their food, and therefore they’re feeling fuller longer.

It’s also possible that these medications are working on certain areas of the brain. A couple of theories include that the medication may stimulate the hypothalamus, which plays a role in controlling feelings of hunger and fullness, or that it blocks the release of dopamine, making food less rewarding. To figure out exactly what is going on, more research is certainly needed.

If you’re thinking about these medications, speak openly with your healthcare provider about your options and what may be the best solution for you.

Take Charge of Your Health: Work With a Coach

Your health and well-being are influenced by many different factors – your activity levels, your mental health, and your diet. And, of course, all of these things are interconnected. Maybe you feel like you need help or support in one area, or multiple areas, but it’s overwhelming to figure out where to start.

Working with an online fitness and nutrition coach could be the support that you need to get in touch with your body, understand your hunger cues, and build a healthy and strong relationship with food and your body. If you want to learn more about working with an online coach, read the comprehensive guide. And if you think online coaching is for you, head to the inquiry form so that we can connect one-on-one.

Written by Emily Greffenius. Reviewed by Meghan Farrell, CPT, BSN