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It's fairly common -

It’s safe to say that we’re all guilty of eating when we’re not hungry. In fact, most of us tend to underestimate our food decisions. That being adding more food to the plate than we actually need, or snacking when we’re not really hungry. The reasons for this vary, but, indeed, it is a pretty common occurrence.

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Understanding hunger cues -

Our body tells us when to eat and when to stop eating. We have two hormones responsible for these cues: ghrelin and leptin.

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Understanding hunger cues -

Ghrelin drives appetite and signals hunger, whereas leptin works as an appetite suppressor that tells our brains that we're full, signaling satiety.

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Understanding hunger cues -

These hormones rely on each other, but some people do actually build up a resistance to leptin. In addition, for most people it can take up to 20 minutes for the brain to signal that we’re full.

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It can mess up your blood sugar levels -

Eating when you’re not hungry can have a negative impact on your blood sugar levels. This is especially true when you snack on highly processed foods.

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It can mess up your blood sugar levels -

Snacking on these will cause a spike in blood sugar, and consequently a crash, leaving you feeling sluggish and moody.

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It can mess up your blood sugar levels -

But such spikes in blood sugar, and thereby insulin, can also lead to other health issues, including type 2 diabetes.

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It can mess up your blood sugar levels -

A 2017 study by the Endocrine Society found that keeping most of your eating to the first six to eight hours of the day may help keep blood sugar levels more stable.

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It can affect your weight -

Eating more food will increase your caloric intake and therefore may lead to an increase in body weight. Especially because most of us tend to snack on caloric-dense foods.

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It can affect your weight -

This is especially true when we eat while we are distracted (e.g. watching a game or a movie on TV). We can easily go through a bag of chips or a tub of ice cream without even realizing we’re full.

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It can affect your digestive system -

The digestive process is affected by both mental and physical processes. Smelling or looking at food is enough to kick-start a number of processes in our digestive system.

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It can affect your digestive system -

When we’re not relaxed and/or paying attention to what we’re eating, our digestive system may not release the necessary enzymes to process the food we’re about to consume, which may lead to discomfort.

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It can affect your digestive system -

Not being mindful of what we’re eating can actually make the digestive process 30% to 40% less effective, according to Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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It can affect your mood -

What we eat has an impact on our mood, and eating (often overeating “comfort” foods) leads to a release in dopamine in our brains, so we feel good. Of course, this “high” is followed by a crash.

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It can affect your mood -

According to a 2001 study, “eating, like the use of addictive drugs, is a highly reinforcing behavior, inducing feelings of gratification and pleasure.” Eating when we’re not hungry can be just a way to feed our dopamine habit.

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Your risk of disease may increase -

The foods we eat when we’re not hungry are usually high-sugar and/or high-fat foods. These have been linked to a number of health conditions, including type 2 diabetes and
heart disease.

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Your risk of disease may increase -

Eating such snacks without really having the need for them can also put more strain on our bodies. Our bodies will struggle to digest such foods, which in turn can impair nutrient absorption, among other processes that may leave our immune systems more vulnerable.

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It can have an impact on your sleep -

You may not think too much about having a pre-bedtime snack, but if you reach for a slice of leftover pizza or a piece of cake, this can affect your sleep

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It can have an impact on your sleep -

A 2018 study by the University of Arizona found that indeed there is a link between junk food cravings and poor sleep quality. In the study, 60% of the participants who experienced poor sleep were nighttime snackers.

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It can have an impact on your sleep -

A 2012 study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that binge eating in women “was positively associated with not getting enough sleep, sleeping poorly, problems falling asleep, feeling sleepy during work or free time, and disturbed sleep.”

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It can have an impact on your nutrition -

The sugar and fats we often consume in the foods we eat when we’re not hungry do mess our diets up. These usually offer little or no nutritional value and thus have no benefit for our health.

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It can have an impact on your nutrition -

These foods are essentially “empty calories” that do not contain the required micro and macro nutrients our bodies need. These are not absorbed and used by our bodies for a valuable purpose, and, as a result, nutrient deficiency and/or fat gain may occur.

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It may be a reflection of your mental health -

We’ve talked about how eating releases dopamine and makes us feel good. Sometimes we seek this not just as a reward, but as a discretion or coping mechanism.

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It may be a reflection of your mental health -

Emotional eating is pretty common, and many people reach out for a snack when they’re bored, anxious, stressed, or sad, among other moods.

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You might actually need it -

There are instances when eating without being hungry is needed, and, in some cases, beneficial. This is the case of people with some eating disorders, who may have to 'force' themselves to eat. In which case, hunger may hardly be present, so one must eat without the physiological signals to do it.

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You might actually need it -

Our bodies are not machines that we can program to eat at specific hours (though we can get close to this). You may not be very hungry during your lunch break at work, but if this is the only time you can eat during the next few hours, then maybe it’s not such a bad idea to do so.

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You might actually need it -

Jet lag is also a valid reason to eat when you’re not hungry. The idea is to adjust your body to the local time zone.

Sources: (Health Digest) (WebMD) (Scientific American) (Cleveland Clinic) (Spatz Medical) (Brigham and Women's Hospital) (Mayo Clinic) (American Psychological Association)

See also: Emotional overeating—why it happens, and how to deal with it

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