Being hungry doesn’t always mean that your body needs those calories. These medical conditions explain why you're always craving more.
10 Medical Reasons Why You’re Always Hungry, Expert Doctors Share
Updated on Feb. 19, 2025
Highlights
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Our appetite is controlled by so many factors, from genetics and age to gut health, hormones, and much more, according to 2022 research published in Frontiers in Nutrition. But feeling hungry all the time is not normal.
If you notice you’re hungrier than usual, there are some simple explanations. Upping your activity level without increasing your food intake can leave you feeling ravenous—and that’s true even if you’re not hitting the gym. Those steps add up when you’re extra busy running errands and doing chores, for instance.
Nutritional gaps in your diet can lead to feeling constantly hungry, too. The Frontiers in Nutrition research explains that fiber and protein are essential for satisfying our appetite and help us feel fuller for longer—so when they’re low in our diet, we’re more likely to feel hungrier.
Still, if your hunger can’t be explained away by lifestyle or dietary changes, there may be an underlying condition triggering excess appetite. Below, experts explain common medical reasons behind why you are always hungry.
1. Depression
Are you asking yourself the question, “Why am I always hungry?” One reason could be your mood.
Eating can be a coping mechanism for people with depression or anxiety. Part of this might be because they don’t have enough of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and eating comfort foods like pasta and bread can bring those levels up, says Holly Lofton, MD, a board-certified physician specializing in weight management and a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU. “You’re not treating depression with celery,” she says. “It’s whatever your mom gave you to feel good.”
But this coping mechanism might backfire and make your mood worse: People who don’t have a healthy diet are more likely to have symptoms of depression, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
2. Stress
“Your body responds to stress in under 10 seconds,” says Kim Shapira, MS, RD, a functional nutritional therapist and author of This Is What You’re Really Hungry For. This physiological response sends signals throughout your body, including to your adrenal gland—a body part responsible for hormones like cortisol (the stress hormone) and blood sugar control.
During fight or flight mode, the adrenal gland floods your body with cortisol—and this convinces your body to eat, even if you don’t physically need the calories, says Shanna Levine, MD, a board-certified internist in New York and a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Medicine at NYU. “It’s not out of necessity, but cortisol tells your brain that you’re not full,” she says. “That’s why stress causes people to overeat.” Research published in Health Psychology Review in 2021 shows that up to 40% of people increase their food intake when under stress.
In addition, when our mind detects stress, blood flow shifts to the extremities (arms and legs), preparing us to flee from a perceived threat, Shapira says. And if we don’t have the blood in our digestive tract carrying essential neurotransmitters and digestive enzymes, it can trigger a whole range of gastrointestinal discomfort (which might mimic hunger).
“One of the most effective ways to counteract this is to recognize the stress and practice deep breathing, which helps redirect blood flow back to the stomach to support digestion and calm the heart rate,” Shapira says.
Here are other healthier ways to cope with stress.
3. Hyperthyroidism
If you’re hungry all the time and eating more than usual but are somehow still dropping pounds, your thyroid could be overproducing hormones, triggering your body to kick things up.
“Think of the thyroid as an endocrine hormonal organ that speeds everything in the body up,” says Dr. Lofton. “So you would also speed up metabolically, and increase their hunger as a result.”
The thyroid is also involved in satiety, so you might find your cravings harder to satisfy if it’s overactive, says Dr. Levine. See if your hunger is paired with fatigue, moodiness, brittle nails, or hair loss—they’re all signs of hyperthyroidism.
4. Obesity
Overeating can lead to weight gain, but in a vicious cycle, obesity itself can also make you hungry all the time. Excess fat could cause your insulin levels to skyrocket, making your appetite go up in response, says Dr. Lofton. Plus, fat cells make your body less sensitive to the satiety hormone, leptin, says Dr. Levine.
“Because fat produces its own hormones, part of obesity is that people tend to feel more hungry than someone with higher metabolism and in better shape,” she says.
5. Hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar can come from a number of causes, from meal skipping to pancreas problems. But the result is the same: a growly tummy while your body begs for an energy boost. “The body produces hunger as a signal to the brain to tell you to take in more food to have enough blood glucose to enter the cells,” says Dr. Lofton.
But typically, we feel hunger pangs well before our blood sugar drops significantly, Shapira says. “Hunger should be isolated to your stomach ache, it’s not painful or scary,” she says. “When we have low blood sugar, this is when we are extremely hungry, and our body is basically screaming at us.” She explains that signs of low blood sugar don’t stop at hunger—you may feel weak and tired, have heart palpitations, feel anxious or shaky, or even start sweating and feel confused.
“For individuals with diabetes, it’s especially important to pay attention to hunger cues and eat promptly, preventing blood sugar levels from falling too low,” she says.
6. Diabetes
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes both mess with sugar levels, which can create a cycle of hunger when people try to get their blood sugar back on track. Low blood sugar triggers appetite, but going overboard can make those cravings worse.
“What happens is people overeat and get too high of sugar levels, which also cannot be satiating,” says Dr. Levine. “It’s a cause and effect that goes back and forth.”
Even if you’re hungry all the time, try keeping your blood sugar steady by staying away from carb-heavy or refined, processed foods, she says.
7. Your period
Period cravings are totally normal: Your body simply needs more calories to keep up with extra demands during that time of the month, Dr. Levine explains. “It’s a high-energy state for your body, which is why women tend to feel tired and dehydrated,” says Dr. Levine. “In any type of high-energy state, the body physically requires more calories.”
But hormonal changes affect your hunger as well, Shapira explains. “Our hormone serotonin goes down during the luteal phase of our menstrual cycle (those days right before your period starts), and that can lead to cravings,” she says. “Insulin levels also change, making our brain more sensitive to the way that we regulate blood sugar and absorb it [into our cells] as glucose.”
That said, period cravings are generally harmless and normal. “Eating every two to three hours can help stabilize your blood sugar and keep your mood steady,” Shapira says. Magnesium may also help quell cravings, she says. A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Women’s Health and Reproductive Sciences shows that magnesium could significantly reduce period cravings, as well as other symptoms around that time of the month, such as bloating/water retention and anxiety.
(As a bonus, magnesium can help with another common symptom of hormonal changes—sleep disturbances. Read more about how taking magnesium for a month helped our editor get the best sleep of her life.)
8. Medications
Increased appetite is a side effect of some medications, including SSRI antidepressants, steroids for conditions like allergies or lupus, and anti-seizure medications.
“Sometimes, antidepressants mimic the sensation of hunger and increase appetite,” Shapira explains. This is generally due to how antidepressants increase serotonin levels—which can increase hunger—or affect other neurotransmitters that regulate our appetite.
“Steroids affect metabolism and fat deposits, and that can increase appetite,” Shapira says. Certain types of steroids, such as prednisone, can mimic cortisol as well—and as explained above, this stress hormone stimulates our body’s hunger response.
Anti-seizure (antiepileptic) drugs can also interfere with your metabolism, blood lipid (fat) levels, and hormonal levels, all of which can contribute to an increased appetite and weight gain.
It’s important to remember that medication side effects vary among individuals—and you may or may not experience any adverse reactions. Many medications list an increased appetite or weight gain as a potential side effect, but that doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee.
Still, some medications are more well-known for causing an increased appetite. These include:
- Antidepressants: Paxil and Celexa (SSRIs), Remeron (atypical), Elavil (tricyclic)
- Steroids: Prednisone
- Anti-seizure drugs: Valproic acid (Epival, Depakote, Depakene)
Never stop taking your medicine on your own, though—ask your physician about switching prescriptions. “Any medication you take is a chemical that you’re putting in your body,” says Dr. Lofton. “Talk to your doctor and see if there are any alternatives less likely to cause side effects.”
9. Dehydration
Even if you feel hungry, you might just be misinterpreting your body’s plea for water. “When you’re dehydrated—before you become physically thirsty—you will feel hungry, and often people mistake that,” says Dr. Levine.
In addition, Shapira explains that hormones are responsible for triggering our body’s hunger and thirst cues. Ghrelin tells your brain to stimulate your appetite, while vasopressin signals your kidneys to conserve water—which ultimately triggers the feeling of thirst to get you to drink more fluids. But there is a lot of overlap in these signaling pathways to our brain, says 2022 research published in PNAS. Particularly when thirst or hunger is mild, it’s easy for our brain to confuse the signals.
Behavior may also play a role. “We tend to repeat about 47% of our actions the same way we did the day before,” she says. “If you automatically interpret certain sensations as hunger without questioning them, it’s like sleepwalking through your day.”
She recommends that if you notice you feel hungry but ate recently, drink a cup of water first. Dr. Levine says to try to stick with plain water over sugary drinks, which can trick your brain into thinking you’re always hungry despite the extra calories you’re sipping.
10. Insomnia
“Lack of sleep and sleep disruption affect a varied number of hormones that regulate appetite, including leptin, ghrelin, and endocannabinoids, which play a pivotal role in the appetite drive,” explains Jagdeep Bijwadia, MD, FAASM, FCCP, MBA, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and the medical director at Complete Sleep.
He says studies show that a lack of sleep increases levels of the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin, which spikes our appetite. “If there is sustained sleep disruption, then it can lead to persistent weight gain over an extended period of time.”
Leptin is a hormone that helps tell you when you feel full. “This hormone is produced during sleep, and when there is a lack of sleep, there is a noted decrease in the hormone leading to increased appetite and ultimate weight gain,” Dr. Bijwadia says. “Sleep deprivation can also increase endocannabinoids, which can increase appetite drive while also decreasing the ability to make good food decisions.”
When to see a doctor for constant hunger
If you’re constantly feeling hungry, it’s important to see a doctor. “It’s important to run some blood tests to see if there’s anything physiologically going on,” Shapira says.
If everything’s clear, you may be able to quell constant hunger pangs by focusing on your nutrition. A registered dietician can help you understand the specific gaps in your diet, but excess hunger often results from:
- Low fiber: Foods high in fiber are slow to digest, helping you feel fuller for longer.
- Low protein: Protein helps lower your body’s ghrelin levels—the hunger hormone.
- Too many “empty” calories: Processed foods, such as refined carbohydrates, are quickly digested—and this can cause your blood sugar to drop, triggering hunger.
With a well-functioning metabolism, you should be hungry every two to three hours, Shapira says. She recommends that when your ghrelin hormone tells you you’re hungry, eat half of your normal portion of food. “Start with half and wait 15 minutes until leptin signals that you’re either satisfied or [need a bit more],” a strategy that can help keep you from overeating.
However, “If you’re not hungry [at regular intervals], that signifies a slow metabolism, and that’s also a reason to get some help.”
About the experts
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Sources
- Frontiers in Nutrition: “Insights into the constellating drivers of satiety impacting dietary patterns and lifestyle”
- Health Psychology Review: “Stress and eating behaviours in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis”
- International Journal of Women’s Health and Reproductive Sciences: “Effectiveness of Magnesium on Menstrual Symptoms Among Dysmenorrheal College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
- PNAS: “Dynamic processing of hunger and thirst by common mesolimbic neural ensembles”
- American Academy of Family Physicians: "Nutrition and Mental Health."
- The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: "Low Blood Glucose."
- University of Rochester Medical Center: "When Your Weight Gain is Caused by Medicine."
- The National Sleep Foundation: "The Connection Between Sleep and Overeating."
Medically reviewed by 
