10 Natural Ways to Suppress Your Appetite and Stop Overeating
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Let’s face it: Simply cutting calories in an effort to lose weight just doesn’t work for most of us.
And it doesn’t work because we’re still hungry.
We’re still constantly craving all the junk food and sweets and eating out and just more food that it’s impossible to ignore.
So we cave and have a little “cheat meal.” And that cheat meal turns into a “cheat day.” And that cheat day turns back into our old lifestyle we’re tying so desperately to leave behind.
Believe me when I say I have been there. And it sucks.
But there is a way out. After trying nearly everything under the sun to break free from the cravings and finally see the number on the scale trend downward, I have finally managed to stop eating from a place of obsession and depravity and instead from a place of simple need.
Turns out, the food you eat matters. Who freaking knew?!
Here’s how to naturally suppress your appetite and finally take back control.
1. Avoid eating added sugar.
After trying *SO MANY* things, I can say hands down, without a doubt, that not eating added sugar is THE number one way to suppress your appetite.
And that’s coming from the girl who is obsessed with sweets. Or should I say, used to be obsessed with sweets.
I did a 2 week added-sugar detox and within the first few days, my hunger was literally cut in half. Not only that, but I didn’t feel like I was constantly consumed with cravings for dessert and junk food anymore.
Food and hunger finally stopped ruling my life.
Sugar is a food with a high glycemic index (GI), meaning it is quickly digested and absorbed, causing a rapid increase in blood glucose (sugar), followed by a crash. This in turn leaves you feeling hungry shortly after consuming the sugary food, which makes you think you need to eat again.
Additionally, sugar has been shown to interfere with the brain’s reward circuit in a similar way that addictive substances and habits, like drugs and gambling, do. Simply thinking about or seeing sugary foods excites this reward circuit, and once we feed it, we are rewarded with dopamine.
The more sugar we eat, the more desensitized the brain gets, resulting in a need for even more sugar to reach the same threshold of pleasure we once experienced with less sugar. If you’ve ever wondered why you can never have just one cookie or a few bites of ice cream and be satisfied anymore, this is why.
As you can see, it’s a vicious cycle.
Cutting added sugar is certainly tough, but once you do it and realize how good it makes you feel, it’s so worth it, my friend.
It will end up resetting your palate to reestablish a healthy baseline for sugar consumption. Any time you notice yourself getting carried away, you can do another added sugar detox to reset things.
2. Eat protein at every meal.
Protein? More like brotein, am I right?
Protein is one of three macronutrients, alongside carbohydrates and fat.
Due to the complex nature of metabolizing protein (we literally break it down into individual amino acids and reconfigure those amino acids into usable building blocks), it takes our bodies a long time to properly digest and absorb the protein.
This results in increased satiety and more stable blood sugar, meaning no ugly blood sugar crashes to leave you feeling miserable and craving sugar and junk food.
Protein has also been shown to reduce levels of ghrelin, affectionately known as the “hunger” hormone, while also increasing levels of cholecystokinin and glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1), both of which are responsible for digestion and signaling to the body it’s full.
Guidelines recommend consuming at least 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, although upwards of 1 gram per pound has been shown most beneficial for weight loss and muscle growth.
So anything between 0.36 – 1 gram per pound per day is great for providing steady energy throughout the day while suppressing your appetite.
Tips to get more protein:
- Add protein powder or collagen to smoothies, shakes, or even your coffee.
- Sip on bone broth.
- Choose protein-rich snacks over granola bars, chips, crackers, etc.
3. Drink more water.
Anyone else’s spouse tell them to drink water when they’re hangry? 🙋🏼♀️
Water is more of a short-term method for suppressing your appetite, but it works nonetheless. And let’s face it, we could all use more water.
The stomach contains nerves that sense when it stretches, prompting it to send signals to the brain it’s full and to stop eating.
When you fill up on water, it does exactly that.
Drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before eating can help you eat less, or filling up on water when you’re hungry but not ready to eat can help hold you over until your next meal.
More good news: When we drink water, our body needs to heat it up to body temperature in a process called thermogenesis, as water is crucial to maintaining body temperature. In doing so, we expend energy.
The more water we drink, the more our body has to work to heat it up, thus burning more calories.
So really, drinking more water is a win-win for suppressing appetite and burning more calories.
Just make sure you’re not drinking too much water that you’re causing an electrolyte imbalance. This is rare, but worth mentioning. 🙂
Tips to drink more water:
- Flavor your water — electrolytes, infuse it with fruit or cucumber, try sparkling water, make tea or coffee.
- Eat more fruits and veggies (not technically drinking, but it counts!).
- Again, sip on broth.
- Eat more soups.
4. Consume more fiber.
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that cannot be digested or absorbed, meaning it does not provide calories (or count toward your daily calorie intake) or glucose for energy. So what’s the point?
There are two types of fiber: Soluble and insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber dissolves in water. It forms a gel-like material in the stomach that slows down digestion so you stay full longer.
Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. Instead, it helps move material through the digestive system and add bulk to stool. Similar to water, it adds bulk and fills up your stomach, signaling to your brain to stop eating.
High fiber foods generally take longer to eat and contain less calories than low-fiber foods, meaning they have fewer calories for the same volume of food.
I highly recommend reading Fiber Fueled to learn more about fiber and the role it plays in our gut — and overall — health.
5. Complex carbs > simple carbs.
Carbohydrates are comprised of three things: Fiber, starches, and sugars.
Complex carbohydrates are starches and fiber. Think fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (beans and lentils).
Fiber and starches add volume and take longer to digest than sugar, leading to increased satiety and more steady blood sugar levels. So complex carbs = good for curbing hunger.
That leaves sugar, which is a simple carb. Sugar is found in the obvious places: White sugar, brown sugar, molasses, syrups, honey, and even milk.
But it’s also found in refined grains, which are carbs that have been refined and stripped of their fiber. This includes white rice, white bread, white pasta, refined breakfast foods, pastries, other desserts, chips, crackers, soda, juice, and the like.
Simple carbs are quickly digested and absorbed, leading to a quick increase in blood sugar, followed by a sharp crash, leaving you hungry shortly after eating them. So simple carbs = fuel cravings and overeating.
An important thing to note is although fruit contains sugar, it’s not considered added sugar like white sugar, and doesn’t spike your blood sugar the way other simple carbs do. Fruit also contains fiber, aiding in satiety and more stable blood sugar levels.
Eating more complex carbohydrates and less simple carbohydrates has a positive effect on appetite.
6. Keep yourself busy.
Have you ever had one of those days where you’re just so busy, whether from work or running errands or just having a grand old time, that come the end of the day, you finally notice you hadn’t thought about food all day?
Yeah, that’s because we don’t just eat when we’re hungry, we also eat when we’re bored.
Food acts as a form of entertainment, providing a temporary sense of stimulation. When we’re bored, even when we’re watching TV and especially when we’re spending 8 hours staring at a computer screen every day for work, we are drawn to food to fill the void.
When I’m at work, I’ve found getting up and moving to be a great distraction from the boredom and hunger.
Related: 18 Easy Ways to Get 10,000 Steps a Day When You Work in an Office
And when I’m not working, instead of scrolling on my phone or staring at my TV, I’ve found having hobbies gives me something fun to focus on and helps distract me from thinking about food. In turn, I don’t feel as hungry and tend to eat less.
7. Eat slower.
It takes 20 to 30 minutes after eating for your body to register if it’s full or not.
As mentioned earlier, as we eat (or drink), our stomach expands, causing the muscles around it to stretch. This then signals to the nerves around the stomach to send messages to the brain telling it you’re full.
Because this process takes so long, and many of us tend to eat quickly, we end up eating more food than we actually need to feel full.
Eating slower allows you to eat less food in the same amount of time, allowing your body’s natural cues to tell you when you’ve had enough, rather than stuffing yourself full before you stop eating.
8. Reduce stress.
Short term, stress can actually reduce appetite. But chronic, prolonged stress has the opposite effect — it increases appetite.
Normally when we experience stress, our adrenal glands release cortisol, a hormone with many important functions, one of them being metabolism. Cortisol changes the way the body stores and processed nutrients as part of the natural stress response.
During times of stress, cortisol is released and stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism to create a surge of energy to allow us to ward off whatever is causing the stress (think: survival). As a result, blood sugar levels increase, leading to an increase in appetite.
Once the stress passes, cortisol levels go back to normal and all is well.
However, when we experience chronic stress, our adrenal glands keep pumping out cortisol, where our levels remain elevated. This leads to a slowed metabolism and increase in fat storage, particularly around the midsection. And because of the blood sugar spike, we end up feeling more hungry and ultimately craving sugary, calorie-dense junk food.
All that to say, stress is a main driver in weight gain, and learning how to reduce stress is vital for not only suppressing your appetite, but maintaining your health.
My childhood was very stressful and has led to me being chronically stressed pretty much my entire life. Over the last few years, I’ve been working to not only reduce my stress, but better manage the stress that is still a part of my life.
Things like therapy, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, taking time for myself, and exercise have helped a lot in reducing my stress.
Related: 7 Guided Meditations for Anxiety (I Keep Coming Back To)
9. Get adequate, quality sleep.
Studies have shown a correlation between sleep loss and increased appetite, leading to unhealthy food choices and overeating.
When you’re sleep deprived, whether from poor sleep like with insomnia or from not sleeping enough, your desire for certain foods becomes stronger, while your ability to resist them can become impaired.
Adults should get at least 7 hours of sleep each night; less than 7 hours has been linked to poor health.
Duration isn’t the only thing that matters, though. The quality of your sleep is just as important, so make sure you’re taking steps to improve the quality of your sleep.
Having suffered from insomnia myself for more years than I care to count, I understand how important the quality of sleep is. I know we all hate to admit it, but diet and stress play a pivotal role in the quality of our sleep, and working on those things can go a long way in improving our sleep and helping us make better food choices.
10. Take a walk after eating.
Gentle exercise, like walking, after eating can help prevent unstable blood sugar levels.
When we exercise, our body sends glucose (blood sugar) to our muscles for energy. In doing so, it helps lower our blood sugar, preventing it from spiking too high and then crashing. This ends up preventing those highs and lows that increase appetite.
This is especially helpful if you’ve just eaten a carb-heavy meal with lots of sugar.
