If you’ve tried countless diets, but never seem to be able to fill the hunger, then it might be time to look at your social life.
According to a new study, women who feel isolated or lonely are less likely to feel satisfied by a big meal, and in turn eat more.
While we might hear the saying that people ‘eat their feelings’, a team of US researchers now claim that feeling hungry or unsatisfied could be your body’s way of subconsciously going out to seek company. This was especially true of women who associate eating with socialising.
The study, conducted by Ohio State University, tracked 42 women who were asked to fast overnight.
The women were then given a large breakfast the following morning, with blood samples tracked to record the hunger hormone ‘ghrelin’ rise and fall before and after eating.
As well as the blood samples, the women were asked to answer a loneliness questionnaire, including questions on how often they felt lonely and whether they thought others might class them as lonely.
So what did the results show?
Published in the health journal Hormones and Behavior, the levels of ghrelin reacted as expected – with high levels taken across the group before the meal, a fall after they had eaten their meal and then a rise again a few hours later.
What researchers did note was that the rise of the hunger hormone was much quicker in women who were ranked as feeling lonely, or living more isolated lives compared to their peers.
Writing about their findings, researchers said:
‘The need for social connection is fundamental to human nature. Consequently, people may feel hungrier when they feel socially disconnected.’
So if you find yourself constantly peckish, it might be time to pick up the phone to a friend first.
