Are you one of those people who wake up at odd hours during the night with extreme hunger pangs and a ravenous appetite? Be assured that you are not alone, there are a lot of us who have to make that mandatory round to the refrigerator at creepy hours in the night to get something spicy or sweet to eat because the tummy wouldn’t stop growling. Most of the times, such hunger pangs are caused by lack of energy or severe calorie deprivation. If a person does not consume enough food during the day, they may wake up feeling hungry, but then, there are other reasons behind feeling famished in the middle of the night. So, we are shedding more light on this topic in this post:
1. Carb-rich items in the dinner: Carbs, especially refined carbs in dinner can raise blood glucose steeply and then the subsequent sharp drop happens after an hour or so, and a low blood glucose level can make you extremely hungry in the middle of the night. That’s why, it’s important to keep a healthy balance in all meals, especially dinner, so do check out all the weight loss meal plans on the Rati Beauty app.
2. Your Last Meal Lacked Nutrition: When your daily diet lacks essential nutrients like protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, it tends to be in a constant state of seeking more energy, and in such a case, it can send hunger cues even in the middle of the night.
3. Sleep Deprivation: There’s a direct link between sleep deprivation and imbalance in ghrelin and leptin hormones, which can lead to weight gain. Make sure you get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night to get ghrelin and leptin to function properly because when ghrelin level goes up, it leads to frequent hunger pangs.
4. Hormones are out of Whack: As mentioned above, when leptin hormone is out of whack, it leads to increased appetite and cravings through the day, and that doesn’t stop even in the night. Also, imbalance of cortisol, ghrelin, insulin, melatonin, can all cause unnecessary cravings.
5. Insulin Resistance: Insulin resistance is a condition where the body cells stop responding to the efforts of insulin by not allowing glucose to enter them. As a result, there’s an excess of glucose circulating in the bloodstream and to get excess blood sugar out of the way, pancreas continue to secrete more insulin, making it a vicious cycle. When the cells develop resistance to the efforts of insulin, one can experience a feeling of constant emptiness in the abdomen, and most people mistake it for hunger, so they get up and make trips to the kitchen even at night.
6. You are Just Thirsty: You can actually confuse thirst for hunger because compared to hunger, the body is relatively inefficient at relaying signals for “thirst,” as a result, one experiences hunger pangs more often when one is just thirsty, leading to weight gain. So, do not go to the bed thirsty, always keep a bottle of water filled up near by the bedside to keep yourself hydrated.
7. Too Much Intense Exercise: If you have recently switched to a lot of high intensity exercises and that too close to the bedtime, it might create an energy deficit, and in order to replenish energy, you may crave for sugary things at odd hours.
8. Crash Dieting: If you have been skimping up calories by a major degree and crash dieting in order to lose weight, the energy deficit can increase cravings, making you hungry towards the later part of the day, most commonly in the night. That’s why it’s important to follow a healthy diet that does not leave you hungry all through the day to lose weight, check out Rati Beauty weekly diets on the Rati Beauty app to know more.
9. Increased Stress Levels: Stress can push you to seek comfort foods and increased stress levels also increase the production of hunger hormone “ghrelin” since it acts to lower stress and that explains why most people tend to overeat when they are stressed out or even just anxious. Burn the stress off by working out, listening to music, yoga, pursuing new hobbies, or just taking a stroll with your pet.
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