Why you don't feel like eating and what to do about it

Why don't you feel like eating

Loss of appetite is not a diagnosis. But this could be a sign of serious health problems or just a misunderstanding. Here are a few common factors that can affect your appetite.

1. Age

Appetite often decreases Caroline Giezenaar, Ian Chapman, Natalie Luscombe-Marsh, Christine Feinle-Bisset, Michael Horowitz, Stijn Soenen. Aging Is Associated with Decreases in Appetite and Energy Intake-A Meta-Analysis in Healthy Adults / Nutrients over the years. Perhaps this is due to the fact that with age, the metabolism slows down and people simply need fewer calories than in their youth.

But other reasons are not excluded as well. Scientists suspect Mary Hicksonab, Charlotte Moss, Waljit S. Dhilloc, Jeanne Bottin, Gary Frost. Increased peptide YY blood concentrations, not decreased acyl-ghrelin, are associated with reduced hunger and food intake in healthy older women: Preliminary evidence / Elsevier that the elderly may not produce enough ghrelin, the hormone responsible for appetite. Or the work of the sense organs changes, and people do not get the same pleasure from food as in their youth (and if so - why eat?).

Research is still ongoing. But it is unequivocally established: the older we get, the less we eat.

2. High physical or mental stress

If you feel like a squirrel in a wheel all day, you are in a hurry somewhere, you are worried about something, and by the evening you fall exhausted from your feet, you should not be surprised at a decrease in appetite.

When you are extremely exhausted, the body is forced to choose what to spend its energy on: running or energy-intensive digestion. If you can't get out of business, the brain reduces the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. You just don't feel like eating.

3. Pregnancy in women

Food Aversions in Pregnancy: Why Your Favorite Foods Are Now Gross / Parents are faced with nausea and loss of appetite for many expectant mothers. This happens most often in the first trimester.

Kesha Geyter MD, obstetrician-gynecologist, in a commentary to Parents.

Approximately one in two pregnant women in the United States experiences periods of aversion to any habitual food.

The exact cause of decreased appetite during pregnancy is unknown. But experts suggest Food aversions during pregnancy / BabyCenter that it is due to hormonal changes in the body and an increased sensitivity to tastes and smells. Perhaps the refusal of favorite food is an evolutionary mechanism: in this way the mother's body tries to protect the fetus from substances potentially harmful to its development.

4. Weather

In the heat of summer, you want to eat much less C. Peter Herman. Nutritional Needs in Hot Environments: Applications for Military Personnel in Field Operations. / Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research than on cold autumn or winter evenings. The fact is that food is part of the body's thermoregulatory system. When we are cool, we tend to consume more calories in order to convert them into heat. In the heat, the body does not need additional heating, and therefore neglects food.

5. Mood

Someone's appetite disappears due to nervousness, while others, on the contrary, “seize” stress. Scientists have not yet discovered any common algorithm that connects emotions and eating behavior. But it was quite clearly established that the desire to eat largely depends on the mood of L. Bourdier, Y. Morvan, G. Kotbagi, L. Kern, L. Romo, S. Berthoz. Examination of emotion-induced changes in eating: A latent profile analysis of the Emotional Appetite Questionnaire / Appetite. Moreover, this connection is individual for each person.

6. Smoking

Nicotine has a side effect: it reduces Yann S. Mineur, Alfonso Abizaid, Yan Rao, Ramiro Salas, Ralph J. DiLeone, Daniela Gündisch, Sabrina Diano, Mariella De Biasi, Tamas L. Horvath, Xiao-Bing Gao, Marina R. Picciotto. Nicotine Decreases Food Intake Through Activation of POMC Neurons / Science

7. ARVI and other diseases in the acute phase

Leptin is a hormone that makes you feel full. But at the same time, this substance is actively involved in Radheshyam Maurya, Parna Bhattacharya, Ranadhir Dey and Hira L. Nakhasi. Leptin Functions in Infectious Diseases / Frontiers in the Immune Response to Infection.

With a cold, flu, exacerbation of other infectious diseases, the level of leptin increases - this allows the body to repel a pathogenic attack. But once the hormone becomes more, a feeling of fullness appears. Therefore, sick people often refuse to eat.

8. Taking some medications

Decreased appetite can be one of the side effects of antibiotic Side effects. Antibiotics / NHS. But other medications sometimes discourage the desire to eat. For example, the pain relievers Appetite decreased / MedlinePlus based on codeine and morphine and the diuretics Diuretics / Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK lead to this reaction.

9. Mental disorders

Loss of appetite can be caused by depression Depression (major depressive disorder) / Mayo Clinic.

Another common mental disorder that is directly related to unwillingness to eat is Anorexia / NHS anorexia nervosa. This is what doctors call an eating disorder caused by a desperate fear of gaining weight.

10. Diseases of the digestive system

Changes in appetite may be one of the first symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome Piero Portincasa, Leonilde Bonfrate, Ornella de Bari, Anthony Lembo, Sarah Ballou. Irritable bowel syndrome and diet / Gastroenterology Report and Crohn's disease Gordon W. Moran, Fiona C. Leslie, John T. McLaughlin. Crohn's disease affecting the small bowel is associated with reduced appetite and elevated levels of circulating gut peptides / Clinical Nutrition.

11. Viral hepatitis and other liver damage

One of the most important elements in the digestive system is the liver: it is in it that blood is supplied with nutrients processed by the stomach and intestines. The organ sorts the received substances, cleans them of toxins and only then passes them into the general bloodstream. For viral hepatitis Viral Hepatitis and Hepatitis A Outbreak / University Health Service. University of Michigan and other liver diseases Liver disease / Mayo Clinic, she ceases to cope with its functions.

In order not to overload the suffering liver and give it a chance to recover, the body reduces Barbara C. Fam, Christos N. Joannides, and Sofianos Andrikopoulos. The liver. Key in regulating appetite and body weight / Adipocyte the production of hormones, enzymes and other substances responsible for the manifestation of appetite.

12. Cardiovascular diseases

Loss of appetite is one of the symptoms of chronic heart failure. In addition, reluctance to eat may be associated with developing heart attacks Heart attacks in women / Harvard Healh Publishing and Congenital heart disease: What to watch for / Heart and Stroke of the heart.

13. Endocrine disorders

If the thyroid gland produces less hormones than necessary (called hypothyroidism), the appetite is significantly reduced. However, the weight can increase.

14. Iron deficiency anemia

Loss of appetite along with weight loss, especially if all this is accompanied by fatigue, a feeling of lack of strength, is one of the most characteristic symptoms of Hanin Ghrayeb, Mazen Elias, Jeries Nashashibi, Awni Youssef, Mari Manal, Liala Mahagna, Masalha Refaat, Naama Schwartz, Adi Elias … Appetite and ghrelin levels in iron deficiency anemia and the effect of parenteral iron therapy: A longitudinal study / PLOS ONE of iron deficiency in the body.

15. Cancer

Appetite decreased / MedlinePlus cancers are often associated with decreased appetite, such as:

stomach cancer;
pancreas cancer;
colon cancer;
ovarian cancer.

Food aversion can also be a side effect of Alissa A. Nolden, Liang-Dar Hwang, Anna Boltong and Danielle R. Reed. Chemosensory Changes from Cancer Treatment and Their Effects on Patients' Food Behavior: A Scoping Review / Nutrients of Tumor Treatment.

Do I need to regain appetite

On the one hand, decreased appetite is a convenient thing. Someone suffers on diets, and you have a decrease in calorie intake by itself.

On the other hand, you shouldn't rejoice at the lack of appetite. At least because with a limited diet, you get less nutrients. And this can lead to hypovitaminosis (and even vitamin deficiency), a decrease in hemoglobin levels, Vitamin deficiency anemia / Mayo Clinic and more serious problems Hypovitaminosis / ScienceDirect - with the liver and other internal organs, vision, joints, teeth.

Exactly what the long-term consequences of a decrease in appetite will be depends on the reasons that caused this condition. It's one thing if you're not hungry just because it's sad or too hot. And it is completely different if the loss of appetite is associated with lesions of the liver, heart, and even more so with cancer.

What to do if you don't feel like eating

To begin with, take care of yourself, your well-being, life circumstances. Perhaps your appetite has decreased due to external reasons, for example, due to heat, fatigue, worries. In this case, the desire to eat will return as soon as stress factors disappear.

But if everything is calm in your life, and your appetite has disappeared, or if indifference to food lasts for weeks, try Appetite decreased / MedlinePlus to see a therapist.

See your doctor as soon as possible if you notice that the reluctance to eat is accompanied by sudden weight loss.

The doctor will conduct an examination, ask you about the symptoms. He will definitely inquire about what medications you are taking, what kind of lifestyle you lead, whether the loss of appetite is associated with stressful events, such as divorce, loss of a family member or friend.

You may need to do some research. Among them:

general and biochemical blood tests;
checking thyroid hormones;
tests for hepatitis;
urine analysis for the content of drugs;
Ultrasound of internal organs.

All this will help to find the reason for the loss of appetite. Depending on how serious it is, the doctor will prescribe treatment or send you to a specialized specialist - endocrinologist, cardiologist, oncologist, hepatologist, psychotherapist.

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