It’s possible that you or someone you know isn’t eating breakfast. You are simply not hungry. Or you have breakfast when you arrive at work – two hours later. To be clear, breakfast is the meal that breaks the overnight fast. And your body expects to receive food within one hour after awakening. There are many reasons why you don’t feel hungry in the morning. It’s not because you ate a big dinner in the evening. I know that after my Thanksgiving meal at midday, I am hungry again before going to bed.
So, when you wake up, why you don’t feel hungry in the morning? If your glucose (brain fuel) level went too low while you were asleep, your liver would have already got the signal to release a cocktail of hormones telling the body to produce brain fuel– and adrenaline is a part of the cocktail. We don’t feel hungry in the morning when we have adrenaline in our system. Historically, adrenaline signified that someone or something was trying to harm us and that we should run. Yet, running and eating are not closely linked.
In clinical terms, the short-term effects of skipping breakfast occur around 8 hours later. You may be tired, and your lizard brain takes over. This increases the chance of overeating, drinking more alcohol before or during dinner than planned, and having lazy evenings.
What are the consequences of skipping breakfast in the long run? When we skip breakfast, we set off a chain reaction of stress hormones that work to keep our fuel supply.
Here are 7 possible reasons why you don’t feel hungry in the morning:
1. Your digestive juices are low
Hydrochloric acid and enzymes are among the substances found in your digestive juices. And these juices not only help digestion but also boost your appetite. You want enough digestive juices so that you can digest your meal.
If you are not hungry for breakfast (or other meals) or are constantly hungry, this is a sign that something is wrong with your digestion. Warm lemon water first thing in the morning can help increase hydrochloric acid production and assist digestion.
Feeling nauseous might indicate that your digestive juices are strong. And eating might help relieve nausea by putting those juices to work.
2. You feel anxious or depressed
Stress and depression may both have a significant impact on your hunger levels. Depression can induce hunger changes in addition to symptoms such as sleep problems, tiredness, and loss of interest.
Meanwhile, stress might cause a rise in the levels of certain stress hormones that reduce your appetite.
Anxiety and depression have different effects on various people. According to other research, these conditions are instead associated with increased hunger and food consumption in some people.
If you are suffering from anxiety or depression and believe it impacts your appetite or other areas of your health, consult with a healthcare expert to determine the best course of treatment for you.
3. You ate/eat dinner too late at night
Eating late may be your thing, depending on your lifestyle, but it may not be healthy for you. It takes time for our bodies to digest our food.
The difficulty is that your body is focused on other things when you sleep, such as repairing and rejuvenating cells, tissue, and organs, rather than digestion. If your body needs to digest a large meal, it will do so ineffectively, and repairs and rejuvenation will be less effective.
You may wake up still feeling ‘full’ because your body is still working sluggishly to digest your dinner.
Dinner is best served between 5 and 7 p.m. This lets the digestion process begin before you go to bed.
4. You’re pregnant
Morning sickness is a common problem that causes nausea and vomiting. It affects around 80% of pregnant women.
Although morning sickness can affect at any time of day, it is more common in the morning, hence the name. After 14 weeks of pregnancy, it usually improves or disappears.
Morning sickness might cause a loss of appetite. 34% of pregnant women in one research of 2,270 reported eating less during their first pregnancy.
In addition to morning sickness, pregnancy can induce additional hunger-reducing symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, and delayed stomach emptying.
Staying hydrated, eating small meals, experimenting with new recipes, getting enough rest, and keeping your house well-ventilated to prevent trigger scents are all methods that may help reduce symptoms and increase your appetite.
Consider taking a pregnancy test or speaking with a healthcare practitioner if you have chronic morning sickness or other early pregnancy symptoms.
5. You’re sick
When you’re feeling under the weather, your appetite and hunger levels tend to drop. Respiratory illnesses such as the common cold, the flu, and pneumonia, are known to make you feel less hungry.
In some cases, these illnesses can also affect your senses of taste and smell, leading to a loss of appetite.
Certain infections, such as the flu, can also induce symptoms that reduce appetite and hunger, such as nausea and vomiting.
Keep in mind that staying hydrated and fueling your body is especially important while you’re ill, even if you don’t feel hungry in the morning. When you’re not feeling well, consider soup, hot tea, bananas, crackers, and applesauce as some easy-on-the-tummy options.
6. You consumed a large dinner or late-night snacks
You don’t feel hungry in the morning when you wake up when you ate a large dinner or snacks the night before.
This is especially true if you ate a high-fat or high-protein meal. These macronutrients can slow stomach emptying and keep you feeling fuller for longer – even until the next morning.
Protein can significantly affect the levels of hunger and hunger hormones such as ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin.
Similarly, high-fat meals may change some hormones related to appetite and feelings of fullness, resulting in decreased hunger.
If you want to have a large dinner and skip or delay breakfast the next morning, that is perfectly OK – as long as you receive enough nutrients and hydration you need throughout the day.
7. Other underlying factors
In addition to the more common causes mentioned above, there are several other reasons why you may not feel hungry when you wake up.
Here are a few more potential causes why you don’t feel hungry in the morning:
You are on certain medicines. Many medications, such as diuretics and antibiotics, can reduce hunger and appetite.
You’re getting older. Changes in energy needs, hormones, taste or scent, and social situations can all cause decreased appetite in older adults.
You have a thyroid problem. Appetite loss can be a symptom of hypothyroidism or low thyroid function.
You’re ovulating. Estrogen, a female sex hormone that increases following ovulation, might reduce appetite.
You have a chronic illness. Appetite loss can be caused by various diseases, including liver illness, heart failure, kidney illness, HIV, and cancer.
Consult a healthcare practitioner if you think an underlying issue is contributing to your morning hunger.
The bottom line
There are a variety of reasons why you may not feel hungry when you wake up. It might be the consequence of a large dinner the night before, natural variations in your hormone levels, pregnancy, or feeling under the weather in some situations.
It can also be a symptom of a more severe problem, such as anxiety, sadness, or another underlying health condition. If you suspect this is the case, contact a healthcare practitioner.
Waiting a few minutes before eating breakfast, experimenting with new foods, or developing good habits by building a daily routine may all help to increase your morning hunger.
