Do you feel extremely hungry, even though you just finished eating your lunch, a delicious dinner, or a mid evening snack? Experts suggest that this is because some food items only trick your body into false 'fullness', leading to a phenomenon called 'rebound hunger'. In this post we bring you four main reasons behind perpetual hunger, no matter what you just ate.

You sip too much soda
Sweetened beverages such as packaged iced tea and sodas are full of high-fructose corn syrup. “Recommendations from the American Heart Association, say that most American women should not consume more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and men should not consume more than 150 calories a day from added sugar”, as mentioned in mayoclinic.com. Fructose also tricks our brain into craving more food, even when we are full. This is because it uses the body’s ability to use leptin (a satiation hormone which tells us when we are full).

Learn to make your own iced tea at home with these healthy Iced Tea Recipes.

Your breakfast wasn’t satisfying enough
While skipping breakfast seems like an easy way toward weight loss, studies suggest just the opposite. Breakfast is an important meal for weight loss. Not eating breakfast within two hours of waking up can make you way too hungry later, leading to extra bingeing and nibbling all the way till your dinner time. In order to lose weight – maintain a balance and eat breakfast every day. Eating breakfast makes room for smaller rises in blood sugar levels and insulin throughout the day, which consequently leads to lesser food cravings. So, have you eaten your breakfast today?

You don’t believe in eating salads
Advantages of salads are aplenty. Salads are a rich source of essential B vitamin folate which helps you fight against extra weight, fatigue and depression. Healthy salads are particularly rich in Vitamin K which is an insulin-regulating nutrient which aids in crushing cravings, thus keeping you full for a longer period of time. 

Also Read: Snacks that keep you full for longer

You are not drinking enough of water
Dehydration often leads to hunger. If you have just eaten and you are still feeling hungry – try and drink one glass of lukewarm water. In fact, make it a point to drink one glass of lukewarm water at least 15 minutes before you sit to eat your meal and see if your sudden food cravings diminishing.

If nothing helps curb your cravings, practise this simple visualisation exercise. Picture a huge burger. Imagine each and every layer. If you are truly hungry, the burger will seem attractive. However if it is just a passing craving, the burger will not look that tempting to you. This essentially means that you just crave a distraction, and not another meal.