88%
feel tempted to eat despite not being hungry at least sometimes.
WEIGHT LOSS
Understanding food noise
The ads on your way to work. The tempting office snacks. The bakery you walk past on your way home. It's sitting in your fridge, cupboard, or on your bedside table. It's that inescapable urge that beckons you to have another bite.
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Nearly nine out of ten people experience food noise, as revealed by our survey
Food noise consists of intrusive cravings and persistent thoughts about eating
These cravings can challenge your ability to maintain healthy eating habits
What is food noise?
Food noise is those intrusive thoughts that push you to eat even when you aren't physically hungry.¹ It's an unfamiliar concept to many, with only 25% of respondents aware of the term, despite 84% experiencing it.
This highlights the silent yet significant role food noise plays in our lives. It's more than just a matter of willpower or self-control - it's an interplay of emotional, environmental, and biological factors.¹
These findings are based on a survey of 2,000 UK respondents, with about 42% identifying as being overweight or having obesity.
Key statistics
43%
think about food constantly, with their thoughts resembling a relentless background track.
44%
struggle to resist cravings when experiencing food noise, increasing to 70% among those who are overweight or obese.
Identifying triggers
To better manage food noise, it helps to understand where it's coming from.¹
By identifying both emotional and environmental cues that prompt eating, you can develop strategies to reduce their influence.
It’s not just about saying no to snacks or treats. It’s about recognising the triggers that drive those urges and finding ways to respond differently.
Top five emotional triggers
Emotions can easily override our hunger signals, pushing us to eat for comfort or distraction.¹ Here are the most common emotional triggers identified in our survey:
Top five environmental triggers
The world around us strongly shapes how and when we eat. Environmental cues often make it harder to resist food noise.¹ These were the top triggers reported:
Why food noise can be worse at night
Evenings can be a prime time for food noise for several reasons:
Circadian rhythms
Biological processes that regulate our internal clock can affect appetite and cravings. In the evening, your body's natural rhythm might trigger hunger signals even when physical energy needs are low.²
Depleted willpower
After a long day, mental and physical fatigue may weaken resolve, making it harder to resist cravings and leading to more nighttime snacking.
Emotional factors
The end of the day often involves winding down from stress, and some people use food as a coping mechanism for emotional comfort.¹
What's the difference between cravings and hunger?
It’s important to distinguish between cravings and actual hunger:
A physical need for food that your body communicates when it requires energy and nutrients. This feeling tends to build up slowly and can be satisfied by eating a range of different foods.³
A mental or emotional urge for specific foods, like sweets or snacks, which isn't necessarily linked to being hungry. Cravings can be triggered by emotions, habits, or seeing or smelling certain foods, and they might linger even after you've eaten.³
The biology of food noise
Food noise isn't solely a matter of willpower - it’s deeply rooted in our biology.
Hormones like ghrelin and leptin play crucial roles in regulating hunger and satiety, which can contribute to the persistence of food noise.¹
Leptin
Produced by adipose (fat) tissue, leptin is the "satiety hormone" that helps regulate energy balance by inhibiting hunger. Low levels, or resistance due to factors like excess body fat, can prevent the brain from receiving signals to stop eating, exacerbating food noise.⁴
Ghrelin
This "hunger hormone" is primarily produced in the stomach and signals your brain that it's time to eat. High ghrelin levels can amplify food noise, making you feel hungrier and leading to persistent cravings even after eating.⁴
6 simple ways to manage food noise
Practice mindfulness
Take a moment to be present and pay attention when you eat. This can help you notice when you're actually hungry versus when you're just eating out of habit or because you see or smell food around you.⁵
Change your environment
Try to keep tempting foods out of sight and avoid places or activities where you're bombarded by food ads, like turning off food commercials on TV or unfollowing certain food accounts on social media.⁶
Challenge your thoughts
If you find yourself thinking about food all the time, try to catch those thoughts and question them. Ask yourself if you're really hungry or if something else is going on, like stress or boredom.⁷
Eat certain foods less often:
Research shows that the more you eat certain foods, the more you might crave them. But if you eat them less often, you might crave them less over time. So, by not eating your favorite snacks all the time, you can help reduce the strong urge to have them later.⁸
Manage your emotions
Stress and other emotions can make you want to eat more. Find ways to handle stress, like exercising, reading, or talking to a friend.⁹
Reach out for support
Talk to friends, join a support group, or consult with a nutritionist or counselor. Sharing what you're going through may make it easier to handle and give you new ideas to try.
How health coaching can help you manage food noise
Navigating the complexities of food noise requires more than just willpower - it needs a structured approach. Health coaching can be an invaluable resource in managing food noise effectively.
A health coach will work with you to identify your specific triggers for food noise and develop tailored plans to address them. By implementing mindful eating practices and healthy routines, you can better navigate cravings and make more informed decisions about your food choices.
Sam, a Numan patient, shares: “I’ve learnt all these different ways to cope with situations like stress or emotional eating. I’m set up for success.”
KNOWLEDGE
Learn more about food noise
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References
1. Hayashi, D., Edwards, C., Emond, J. A., Gilbert-Diamond, D., Butt, M., Rigby, A., & Masterson, T. D. (2023). What is food noise? A conceptual model of food cue reactivity. Nutrients, 15(22), 4809. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15224809
2 Scheer, F. A. J. L., Morris, C. J., & Shea, S. A. (2013). The internal circadian clock increases hunger and appetite in the evening independent of food intake and other behaviors. Obesity, 21(3), 421–423. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20351
3 Meule, A. (2020). The psychology of food cravings: The role of food deprivation. Current Nutrition Reports, 9(3), 251-257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-020-00326-0
4 Klok, M. D., Jakobsdottir, S., & Drent, M. L. (2007). The role of leptin and ghrelin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans: a review. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 8(1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2006.00270.x
5 Torske, A., Bremer, B., Hölzel, B. K., Maczka, A., & Koch, K. (2024). Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 7294. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57687-7
6 Boyland, E., Spanakis, P., O'Reilly, C., & Christiansen, P. (2024). Associations between everyday exposure to food marketing and hunger and food craving in adults: An ecological momentary assessment study. Appetite, 196, 107241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107241
7 Sun, W., & Kober, H. (2020). Regulating food craving: From mechanisms to interventions. Physiology & Behavior, 222, 112878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112878
8 Apolzan, J. W., Myers, C. A., Champagne, C. M., Beyl, R. A., Raynor, H. A., Anton, S. A., Williamson, D. A., Sacks, F. M., Bray, G. A., & Martin, C. K. (2017). Frequency of consuming foods predicts changes in cravings for those foods during weight loss: The POUNDS Lost study. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 25(8), 1343–1348. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21895
9 Ackermans, M., Jonker, N., & de Jong, P. (2024). Adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation skills are associated with food intake following a hunger-induced increase in negative emotions. Appetite, 193, 107148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.107148