This Is Why You’re So Hungry the Morning After a Big Meal
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Dec 12, 2019
- 3 min read
This appetite spike can cause you to overeat first thing in the day and then hinder your productivity and energy levels for next couple of hours.
But there's actually a scientific reason for the surge in appetite and it mostly has to do with your blood sugar and hunger hormones. Here's what's going on in your body when you binge eat the night before and wake up hangrier than ever.
Your Blood Sugar Spikes
When you eat a large meal for dinner, your blood sugar spikes, which then leads to a subsequent drop that can cause you to wake up with a rumbling belly and some crazy cravings.
"This is likely due to overeating less healthy foods that are high in sugar, which causes your pancreas to put out insulin, a hormone that helps our cells take up the sugar from our blood," says Amy Shapiro, RD, CDN of Daily Harvest.
"This leads to a drop in blood sugar shortly after, causing excessive hunger in the morning," she explains. And that's why you might find yourself digging into everything from your kitchen fridge to your pantry.
Celebrations, holidays and large dinners usually involve overeating mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, rice, cake, cookies, cornbread, cranberry sauce and more, which are all quickly digested and are high on the glycemic index. High GI foods cause your blood sugar to spike and then drop, leading to hunger the next day.
In general, "high-GI foods include things like white rice, pasta, white bread, bagels, doughnuts, french fries and other items we know as unhealthy. Low-GI foods are whole-grain, minimally processed and rich in fiber and protein," adds Norton. So use that as a point of reference when deciding what foods to include in that big meal and how to manage portion control.
You're Also Dehydrated
Beyond just normal dehydration that's a result of hours of sleeping, the excess sugar and sodium in your night-time meal can make you even more dehydrated in the morning.
And the brain can easily mistake thirst for hunger. "So before you eat, gulp some water," says Shapiro, and choose to drink a glass or two of water in the morning before having breakfast, too. This can help your hunger dissipate.
You Might Not Have Slept Well
Sleep helps balance our hormones, like the hunger-increasing and hunger-suppressing hormones ghrelin and leptin.
"When we go to sleep with a full stomach, the body needs to use energy to digest the food we ate and, therefore, it can't fully relax and restore while it works on breaking down the nutrients we've eaten," says Shapiro.
This can make it super challenging to sleep and stay asleep throughout the night. "Additionally, going to sleep too full can lead to acid reflux or a GERD flare-up, which can keep people awake and disrupt sleep," she says.
"Research shows we reach for high-sugar foods in order to give us a boost in energy when we're tired," Shapiro says. Plus, it's easy to drink excess coffee to try and wake up, which can lead to more dehydration and affect your sleep the following night — especially if you drink it too late in the day.
So, Here's What to Do After That Big Meal
Give yourself time to digest. It is important to give yourself two hours before you go to sleep.This helps minimize acid reflux and poor digestion.
Take a walk. Try to get in movement after a meal is a good idea to ease digestion.
Get a good night's sleep. Try to make yourself as comfortable as possible for the night by cooling down your bedroom, turning off the lights, using earplugs if you live in a noisy street and minimizing screen time, adds Norton.
And What to Do in the Morning
The key is to wait 20 minutes or so to see if you're still hungry before eating more.
"If you wake up hungry, remember that you don't need to eat more food than usual, Start with a glass of water and serve yoursel and healthy yet balanced breakfast meal.
You can have a trio-combination of protein, fiber and fat rich breakfast to keep you satisfied for a longer period thus preventing you from over-eating
Sources:
Comments