Does Diabetes Cause Loss of Appetite? You want to lose weight and maybe have to lose weight. It’s never been easy because you have to learn how to suppress your appetite. There’s nothing worse than the sound and the feeling of your stomach growling. UGH! It can happen at any time and there may be many reasons for it. The purpose here is to find out how to control those hunger pains and what you can do to try and avoid them.
What we really have to learn to do is to eat to live and not live to eat. Food is for survival and not just something for you to pass the time of day. That is emotional eating.
Doesn’t it seem that you get more hunger cravings when you’re on a diet? It’s because you feel you can’t have the foods you normally eat and you get cravings for those foods. At least that’s the way it’s happened with me.
Definition of Hunger-Foods that fill you up
Hunger is a feeling of uneasiness or discomfort caused by the lack of food in your stomach. This is giving you the feeling of needing to eat something. And this feeling can be very uncomfortable and hard to control.
You can actually (although I wouldn’t recommend trying it) survive without food for about ten weeks. When we get that feeling of hunger gnawing at us, it’s very annoying and uncomfortable and forces us to eat when it’s not necessary. This is very bothersome.
What you have to do is to learn about how and when you should be eating and not suffer any hunger pains at all. You have to reprogram your mind and you body about eating. Because it comes down to mind over matter. If you don’t mind, then it doesn’t matter. Believe it or not there are many ways to prevent non-essential eating and having that empty feeling in your stomach.
Suppressing your Appetite with Eating Right & Exercising
1) Eating Foods that fill you up
Controlling that empty feeling in your stomach starts out with eating the right foods that curb that feeling and that make you feel fuller. Start your day with the correct breakfast and don’t skip it. Oatmeal is one if the best things you can have that will fight your hunger for the morning until it’s time for lunch.
So just why is oatmeal a great choice? Simply put, it will not cause your blood sugar levels to rise which will bring on that hunger feeling. This is especially important if you are a diabetic.
You want to lower your blood sugar naturally and one important way is to eat the foods that lower your blood sugar and not raise them. You want to have a high fiber diet and the reason that oatmeal is good for you is because it slows down the absorption and digestion of carbohydrates.
Have your oatmeal, an apple, and grapefruit for a nice filling and healthy breakfast. These foods will help you suppress your appetite. You’ll be eating healthy and helping to lower your blood sugar at the same time. And it doesn’t matter what kind of oats you have. It can be rolled oats, steel cut or quick oats. You will get the same result.
Nuts are also a great way of getting the fiber you need and making your stomach feel full. Because nuts have unsaturated fat, protein, and fiber, you can get the benefits from them by eating a portion a day. Almonds are especially healthy and beneficial. This will make you feel a lot less hungry.
Dark chocolate can satisfy your cravings, but only a little bit. I like milk chocolate better, but you can have your cake and eat it as the saying goes. (If you’re smart & have it without indulging)
Grapefruit is an excellent choice because it also helps with losing the extra pounds that want to get rid of. It is an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, potassium, and contains calcium, folate, vitamin B6, and magnesium. It has of course Vitamin C which help build up your immunity system to fighting infection. It also reduces the risks of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and asthma.
Flaxseeds are extremely beneficial too, especially for diabetics because they will halt your blood sugar from going out of whack. They are high in fiber and will curb those hunger pains. Just add them to salads, vegetables, and yogurt and smoothies.
Would you like to have foods that will send an indication to your brain that it should restrict your appetite? Perfect. Then just have olive oil, peanut butter (my favorite), and avocados. That should do the trick!
It’s all in the protein. Especially in the morning. Make sure you have yogurt (greek yogurt is even better), eggs, and lean meat. Another good way to start off your morning to ward off the hunger pains later!
Foods that are spicy turn on your senses. This makes you more aware of the amount of food that you are consuming and they can signal that time’s up and you’re full now. You may want to take a look at the Paleo diet.
2) Altering your Everyday Routine
Slow down when it’s meal time. There’s no rush and eating too fast doesn’t give your brain ample time to get the signal that it’s full. Savor the taste and experience of a meal. Think about what it is that you’re eating and chew slowly. This isn’t a race. The only prize at the end is not feeling hunger, losing weight, and controlling your diabetes.
Never be bored. Stay busy or you’ll find yourself thinking about food and its pleasuring tastes. Excessive free time can be a big factor in emotional eating. Plan your meals and stay active. Join a gym for exercise and stick with it. Go whenever you’re feeling those hunger cravings.
Go for a walk. Have activities that keep you moving and active. Hang out with friends and be active together. Go bike riding. I love going bike riding. If you would rather exercise indoors, then pick up a foldable exercise bike.
Get the eight hours of sleep. Being deprived of sleep is not a good thing. It will affect your next day because you will be eating more throughout the next day. This will result in eating way more calories than you normally would have. The result is also having foods with more calories even more desirable. This is what you need.
This next one I do a lot and it works. You can never go wrong with brushing your teeth at all. So if you brush your teeth instead of giving into a huge craving, then it will trick your mind into believing that you just had something to eat.
Your food will not taste good if you’ve just brushed your teeth and this in turn will put off your cravings for a while. In addition, I don’t want my mouth messed up from just cleaning them and that works as a good craving deterrent.
3) Eating Healthy also Means Drinking Healthy
WATER. How many times have you heard about drinking a LOT of water? It’s good for your body and your health but drinking a lot of water also fills you up and gives you that “full” feeling. Drink 8 oz. of water before your meal. Drink during and after you eat. This really helps with hunger pains.
Green tea is one of my favorites to drink. It helps you to prevent the storage of fat. But it also suppresses your appetite with something called Epigallocatechin gallate also known as EGCG. Green tea is good for you.
Drinking alcohol is not going to help you with cravings and besides it’s high in calories and not beneficial if you have diabetes. There is one drink that does help in controlling your appetite and that’s red wine. Now you’re smiling I bet! Red wine gives you the full feeling but don’t have more than two glasses a day.
I’m on the fence with caffeine. Caffeine may or may not help you in suppressing your appetite. Whether you have one cup of coffee or tea sans sugar or milk, could work for some folks but may not work for others. It’s something that you as an individual will have to try and see. That’s the way to know for sure.
Since vegetables are so good for you, you should be trying vegetable juices to put a damper on the hunger feelings. You can try juicing different vegetables such as kale, spinach, cucumbers, or carrots. These are good sources in suppressing your appetite while being good for you at the same time. This is not good idea with fruits because of the sugar they contain.
Diabetes and Appetite
What if you have diabetes and you are losing too much weight and whose appetite is dwindling? How can you treat this? Or maybe you’re gaining weight? It’s important to keep track of what you’re eating and when because you’ll need to speak with your doctor about it.
Your carbohydrate intake is important to note, just as your calorie intake is too. Your appetite can either be increasing or decreasing and either way diabetes can be the cause so you’ll want to consult with your physician about it.
It would also be a good idea to monitor your blood sugar frequently as well. This way there’s no guessing about your blood sugar numbers. But if you’re a diabetic, I’m sure you’re already doing that.
Other Tips to Controlling the Rumbling of your Stomach
- Eliminate processed and refined carbohydrates. Stick with complex carbs instead. This means no junk food such as sodas, sweets, cakes, cookies, and breads.
- Get rid of the belly fat. Belly fat definitely gives you the hungry feeling.
- Salt is a no no. Salt only causes weight gain through water and it only makes cravings even worse.
- Time out. If cravings arise, you should take some time out. Sometimes these can be “fake” cravings and your mind tries to trick you. Find something else to occupy your time for the next half an hour or so.
- Colors. This sounds kind of weird but when you think of how your mind interprets things, maybe it does make sense. At least from past studies it appears that way. If you’re eating on a plate that’s either yellow, red, or orange it seems to make you have a larger appetite. Yet blue? It seems to decrease your appetite so give it a try. Blue plates, blue napkins and silverware (I think that would be plastic)
- Vanilla the secret culprit. Yes the unbelievable aroma of vanilla scent fools you into believing that your cravings for sugar have already been satisfied.
- Have a small meal every two or three hours. This way you have a constant “flow” of energy, decreasing your appetite and cutting down on the cravings.
Final Thoughts about Appetite
Does Diabetes Cause Loss of Appetite? If you can just follow some tips here, it will help you in the war against diabetes and suppressing your appetite. Try and fill your time up with other activities and don’t have eating as an activity. Plan your meals and don’t always turn to the knife and fork for everything.
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You’ve provided some really great tips here! I find that most of the time when I think I’m hungry, I’m really just thirsty…. So, if I just ate a few hours previously, then I first drink a big glass of water. If I still feel hunger, then I’ll have a snack. I also find that if I eat while watching TV or reading a book, I’m hungrier sooner than if I just focus on eating and take my time to nourish my body. Thanks for your post.
I hear ya Jackie. Sometimes it would be nice not to have hunger pains and not eat at all. But reality is we need to eat to survive so we must adjust to the gnawing of the hunger pains. But the tips here will help especially drinking water. Sometimes doing other things are distractions for people to not think about eating. Some have other options that work. Suppressing your appetite is not the easiest thing to do. We just have to find out what works for us individually. Thank you!
Great article, I could see myself and my struggles. After reading this it has given me some ideas,especially on how not to eat between meals. The content covered every aspect of suppressing a diet. Anyone that is struggling with over eating should read this article. There is something for everybody.
Hey thanks. It’s not easy to avoid the hunger pains but at least there are ways to help. Sometimes it’s more of a mind thing than anything else. But once you overcome it, it will become easier. It starts by eating the healthy foods that don’t add to the cravings. Stay healthy!
I think that anyone who reads this article will find at least one mistake that he or she always makes.
It is a great article. It gave me a general idea about controlling hunger and I found myself between the lines.
I think I will not be the same person after correcting my lifestyle, because I am trying to lose weight and I did not realize that chewing food quickly causes more hunger. You are absolutely right, there is no rush in eating your food. Thanks for your information.
Nobody is perfect and when it comes to eating and trying to lose weight and suppress out appetite, it is not an easy task. Once you learn how to change your eating habits and following the tips on how to suppress your appetite, then you’ll begin to see the light and win the war of controlling your hunger pains.