Most people say that if you are hungry, you should sit down and have a bite to eat. In some cases, however, you may be feeling hungry after a meal and not know why. It is even possible that you are hungrier after eating than before. This is actually more common than most people realize. It happens because hunger isn't controlled by only one part of the body; it results from interactions between the bloodstream, pancreas, brain, intestines and stomach. This circuit is easy to hijack, meaning that you may still feel hungry after you eat if you don't pick the right foods or habits.

Feeling Hungry After Eating—Why?

1. Eat Too Fast

If you eat too quickly, your satiety hormones don't have enough time to work completely on the food you ingest. Usually, it takes about 20 minutes for the satiety hormones to trigger the feeling of satisfaction. Try to eat more slowly and you may notice an improvement. As a bonus, this lets food be arranged orderly in your stomach, leading to an easier process to feel satisfied.

2. Take Little Fiber or Protein

Food that has enough fiber and protein will produce more hormones that suppress appetite and the desire to eat. This means that if you regularly eat food without fiber and protein, such as processed foods, you may be hungry easily. Instead, pick foods with soluble fiber since this creates a gel that slows down digestion.

3. Skip Breakfast

If you don't eat enough food in the morning, feeling hungry after a meal later in the day can be expected. Instead, start the day with a full stomach and feature protein and fiber in your breakfast.

4. Low Intake of Water Content

Foods that are low of water content can also leave you feeling hungry. Green salads, broth soup, and vegetables are good choices of satisfying foods with a good content of water. Because even they don't contain so many calories, they will fill you up with good food volume. You can also try drinking water or some green tea after eating to suppress appetite.

5. You Are Pregnant

Although you eat for two people while pregnant, you don't necessary need to double your intake. You do, however, need more food than normal and pregnancy hormones can affect your appetite. You may be full but still crave certain snacks or foods, and more nutrients are needed to support the fetus growth. Yet, in some cases, unsatisfied hunger during pregnancy can indicate gestational diabetes.

6. Diabetes

Diabetes involves issues with controlling blood glucose due to insulin dysfunction. Insulin does reduce your appetite, but if your body's receptors don't respond to it properly, as in type 2 diabetes, you may still feel hungry.

7. Tapeworms Infestation

Tapeworm infestations are one possible reason for feeling hungry after eating.There are different types of tapeworms, including fish, beef, and pork tapeworms, and all these types can increase your appetite. The parasites sit in your bowels, eating nutrients from your meals and this lack of nutrients keeps you hungry.

8.   Thyroid Issues

Hyperthyroidism causes your metabolic rate to increase, meaning your body uses more calories than normal. This means that if you have hyperthyroidism, you need to replenish the calories, causing frequent hunger or a large appetite.

9. Stomach Issues

Some stomach issues, like peptic ulcer disease or gastritis, may causes sensation that you may interpretas hunger. These issues lead to erosion and irritation of your stomach lining which can be mistaken for hunger. It is also possible that after eating you secrete more gastric acid which irritates your stomach lining and leads to pain or discomfort which you consider as hunger.

10. Consume Soft Drinks

Juice, soda, and other drinks with high sugar content reduce blood flow and activity within the area of the brain regulating appetite. Fructose is known to trick the brain to think that you need more food even if you eat by reducingthe body's capability to use leptin, the hormone which tells us we are full.

11. Hormonal Changes

Hormones can also lead to hunger, particularly femalehormones from birth control and ERT (estrogen replacement therapy) or menopause. Corticosteroid hormones may also lead to feeling hungry, since they raise blood sugar and unbalance other hormones. If the hormonal changes are the cause of feeling hungry, you can seek help from your doctor to balance your hormones.

12. Dehydration

You may not realize that you are dehydrated when you are feeling hungry after eating. Slight dehydration feels similar to hunger so you may not be able to tell the difference. If you are still hungry, drink water and wait 15 minutes to see if the hunger disappears.

13. Drugs

Certain medications, like steroids, seizure medications, antidepressants, and antihistamines, may increase appetite. Your doctor can tell you if your medications contribute.

14. Emotional Factors

Australian researchers discovered that distractions can reduce cravings. If you are hungry, picture your favorite food. If it is appetizing, you are probably hungry; otherwise, you are probably bored.

People also have a higher chance of turning to foods with sugar, salt, or fat when they are stressed since they are comforting. Stress may actually even lead to hunger pains since insulin and cortisol are involved in both processes.

How to Deal With Feeling Hungry After Eating

1. Eat a Good Breakfast

It is not that hard to eat a good breakfast. There are some good breakfast choices.

• Eggs, toast, & fruit: take 2 scrambled eggs, and a piece of whole-wheat toast with nut butter or avocado smeared. At last, take 1/2 cup of fruit. Now you finish your perfect breakfast!
• Smoothies are also a good idea for breaks fast. One type of easy-to-do smoothies is the carrot cake smoothies. Also, if you prefer to sweet foods before, the carrot smoothies can be on your list.
• Oatmeal with milk and fruit is another good combination for breakfast, which serves rich amount of protein. Cook the oatmeal with milk (soy milk is better), and add some yogurt or nut butter to contain enough protein in your breakfast. At last, you can dress it with fruits and nuts.
• Yogurt & fruits: You can make a breakfast by combining the yogurt with fresh fruits granola or chopped walnuts.

2. Maintain a Balanced and Healthy Diet

• Fiber: Fiber helps you feel full for a longer time since your body processes it more slowly. Fiber-rich foods also have more volume so they fill you up more quickly.
• Protein: Researchers found that eating more protein makes you feel less hungry and more satisfied.
• Fruits and Vegetables: Fruit can help satisfy your sweet preference as well as give you vitamins and fiber. For vegetables, you can consider crunchy vegetables which are low in calories and filling. For softer vegetables, cherry tomatoes can be on your list.

3. Eat High-Volume Meals

Make meals containing solid foods with a lot of fluid to suppress hunger. Pick fruits and vegetables with lots of water instead of pretzels or similar snacks to get larger portions and fewer calories.

4. Keep Hydrated

You can avoid the dehydration which can cause feeling hungry after eatingby drinking lots of water. If you are hungry, drink two full glasses. You can also consider drinking tea since some people fill up faster with warm water.

5. Avoid Certain Ingredients

Try not to eat foods with MSG— often labeled as hydrolyzed soy protein or hydrolyzed plant protein, and soy sauce, because these ingredients can cause hunger. Besides, Lactitol, Maltitol, and high fructose corn syrup can also cause hunger. They are commonly found in "no sugar added" or "low carb" items.