To ask what causes 'food noise'?

[AllyHayHay]

I don't know an awful lot about obesity or the new weight loss drugs, but some of the positives seem to be a reduction in 'food noise' and the merciful cessation of years of endless diet cycles.

I would like to understand more about food noise though - I understand, from what I have read, what it is, but I am puzzled about how it actually starts?

From what I can make out, food noise seems to be integral to not being able to lose weight for many people. Is it something that is permanently there, say from childhood onwards, or does it develop once a certain weight has been maintained for some time?

It is something that I have only really heard about since the chatter about GLP-1 drugs became more popular online, and it would be great if a better understanding of food noise could create more awareness and understanding for doctors and healthy weight people alike, who may have previously been ignorant of it.

My interpretation of 'food noise' is craving. When people talk about it, it sounds like cravings which addicts have - those are created by the chemicals in your brain's 'reward system'.

So it's not physical hunger, or really wanting a particular thing to eat - these are normal and people desperate to lose weight could almost certainly resist them. Cravings create such a tension in your head / body that they are much harder to move past or resist.

I'm guessing they are part and parcel of food addiction, which I guess is behind many people's increasing weight and difficulty losing it.

My personal experience is that I always loved food and was very interested in it. Unfortunately my mum had very disordered eating and pushed me into a binge/restrict cycle from puberty.
This restriction caused my preoccupation with food (?food noise) to become extremely strong. I became 5 stone overweight as a teenager.

I managed to heal my relationship with food as an adult. I am a healthy weight and physically very fit. My food noise has quietened right down.

Interestingly my daughter was also naturally very interested in food from a young age, much like me. She would get really preoccupied with foods too, especially moving into puberty when girls bodies change. However, I didn’t react like my parents did. So no shaming, no restriction, no diets. We just talked about tuning into what your body needs and how different foods make your body feel.

The preoccupation faded over time and I think her food noise is quiet now. She’s well into her teens now and a healthy weight.

So, I think it’s a combination of a natural interest in eating/food and the environment (parenting and societal attitudes) that causes strong, overwhelming food noise.

It’s what an addict would call a craving in the way a smoker craves a hit of nicotine.

Food noise is a nicer way of putting it.

Research seems to suggest that people with food noise are low in the glp1 hormone. So it seems to be response to that

For me it is thinking about food all the time. So even 10 minutes after a big dinner, I’m thinking “what can I eat now”. I know logically that I cannot be hungry but I still just want to eat. It really is relentless. I’ve literally eaten to the point of vomiting.

I think I’ve always had it although I was skinny as a rake as a child - probably because my parents controlled my food intake (not in a disordered way) and we were not a family that snacked. But I can remember going to my gran’s house all the time when out playing to ask for a sandwich, biscuits etc (her knickname for me was “greedy tweeny”) and eating everyone’s leftovers at school.

Ive spent a lifetime trying to stop overeating - the Atkins diet really worked but is not sustainable. I’m now on Mounjaro (because I of course became obese) - it’s been 2 months and I still say every evening “I can’t believe I’m not sitting here craving snacks”. It’s been life changing but I do worry about what will happen when I eventually stop it.

I would describe 'food noise' as not being actual hunger,but more of an intense liking or craving for food. I've been using WL injections on and off over the past couple of years, and have managed to lose quite a bit of weight with their help. I find that when I'm using them,my attitude to food completely changes. I am indifferent to the types of food that I normally find it very difficult to resist. And I'm not constantly thinking about my next meal. I also find I am able to be very restrained around tempting food. Whereas previously I could polish off a whole packet of sweets or biscuits,now I can stop at one or two, with no desire to eat the whole lot.

Food noise to me is constantly thinking about what I’m going to eat next but it doesn’t mean I would eat it straight away. It’s just constantly thinking about food.

For me it is actual hunger, I’m sure of it. I suppose it might be my body’s interpretation of its signals as well though. I think thirst can be mistaken for hunger.

For me it’s most commonly dopamine seeking. This means it can be triggered by low mood, boredom etc. but I also really crave carb heavy food in winter . Interestingly mounjaro stored it within 4/6 hours and it also stabilised my adhd and bipolar quite a bit as well. I felt like my thoughts were much more ordered and sequential instead of jumping all over the place while trying to tune into 3 different radio stations in my head at the same time.

my attitude to food completely changes. I am indifferent to the types of food that I normally find it very difficult to resist. And I'm not constantly thinking about my next meal.

This is what interested me, and I wonder if medical professionals were aware of that effect? Was it unexpected for many people?
It seems to unveil something really vital about the psychology of eating, our relationship to food.

I wonder also, if similarly, a lack of that noise might contribute to people in the underweight range (excluding illness/disorder etc).

I haven’t really known, but for example usually if I have eg white bread and butter in the house simultaneously I have an image of bread and butter in my mind and a craving for it that will be strong enough to get me out of bed to go downstairs and eat it, even though I’m not in the least hungry. That doesn’t really happen with WLI on board.

So is there a point where 'food noise' begins?
Sort of noticing it was there, when it never used to be? If that makes sense?

I had crazy food noice whenever I tried to lose weight and eventually got an ED. It's this constant cycle of thinking about what I was allowed to eat, what wasn't I allowed to eat, what can I eat next, what can I eat tomorrow, what should I have for breakfast, "god I'm dying for a cookie" etc. It was constant and very knackering. I've fixed my relationship with food and I don't get it now and food is pretty much just fuel these days, which is great. I do notice that when I've had a few days on less food the food thoughts start popping up more frequently. These days it's definitely hunger but when I was dieting I think it was more.

I thought everyone was like me - constantly thinking about food and always wanting more. I suppose this is 'food noise'. A few years ago my sister in law mentioned that she sometimes forgets to have dinner....no matter what has been going on in my life I have never, ever forgotten to eat. Everyone is different. But I do think losing weight is not just about willpower...it is definitely harder for some people than others

I remember it as far back as school. It may always have been there, but I vividly remember it from about age 11 onwards.

I am not sure when mine developed. 30s maybe?

I didn't have it as a teenager definitely. I did binge from time to time but spent most of my life living it, food wasn't a big part. Saying that I've always had a big appetite. Ate more than friends and could drink a lot at uni and in my 20s. But food was not at the forefront of my thoughts.

Yes, it is obviously not about willpower, as even a fool must see that people try very, very hard to lose weight and spend an inordinate amount of money doing so.

In fact this is the very opposite of 'lazy' , which must be infuriating.

Barring any long terms side effects, which I hear are far outweighed by the positive results, the drugs sound like a godsend if you consider the alternatives are risky surgery and a lifetime of self punishment and restriction.

I've had the opposite/equivalent experience: recently started ADHD meds and they've vastly improved my eating habits. They reduce my appetite a bit, but mostly it's reducing the want/need to eat because I'm tired/emotional/bored etc etc.

I think you're right about food being a dopamine hit (for me, at least).

There’ll be a lot of reasons including hormones, medication, etc but I think a lot of it is that your body craves what it’s used to.

I used to crave chocolate every single day, I felt hard done to if I didn’t have any. I gave up cold turkey 2 years ago and now, I literally never think of it. Even if I was starving, it wouldn’t cross my mind to buy chocolate. I only eat a bit if someone else practically forces it on me and it doesn’t even taste good anymore.

So its a vicious cycle; you crave something, you eat it, you crave more as the effects wear off and so on.

Food noise is caused by eating the wrong types of food. Like when you eat and lot of sugar, it has addictive properties and you start to crave more. I doubt anyone has food noise about broccoli.

I am getting the idea that food noise is something that literally can't be switched off?

I have never had to diet (yet), but I do think about food a lot and love planning it. I suppose the difference is that it isn't intrusive.

I see the drugs as somehow removing that intrusion?

So they somehow manage to help you bypass those triggers (tiredness, etc)?
I wonder what the mechanism is.

As someone who used to smoke in my 20's, I recall it always felt like a reward. It served to sort of punctuate everything in life, from having enjoyed a good meal to having to take a long phone call that stressed me out. It was stitched into the very fabric of my every day life. When I quit it felt like a real loss, like grief.

I would say exactly this. As someone on GLP’s, I would obsess 24/7 about food and I had a LOT of food noise. It absolutely felt like an addiction or a crutch that I would reach for when things felt tough, I used food to soothe me at the bleakest time in my life. It isn’t ‘funny’ but I joke to people that I put on six stone rather than become an alcoholic or a drug addict. It felt like that was my coping mechanism and I could easily have turned to the other two, but I chose the more ‘socially acceptable’ form. The GLP’s essentially eradicated those cravings and desires in me. I felt like my mind was peaceful and quiet whereas before I was honestly like an addict wondering when I’d get my next hit of food (sugar). It’s been life changing for me ❤️

I don’t know whether food noise is even specific to food.

People gain weight because they are eating to excess. People who do anything to excess tend to become obsessed with it. For example, you get people who are ‘addicted’ to buying excessive amounts of clothes and they probably think about clothes all the time, and constantly browse for new items that they don’t need. Would this be ‘clothes noise’?

I think for me, food noise can be driven by boredom or emotional responses, but it consists of me constantly thinking what’s going to be the next meal. I’m never, ever hungry. What a PP said above also resonated for me - I think it’s dopamine seeking in my case, as it’s triggered by my moods, and since I’ve been on Mounjaro my mood fluctuations have been far less severe. And I actually threw out stale cake! Unheard of.