What is food noise and where did it come from?

The term food noise is being used more and more within research, discussions and through conversations with people. But why? Where has it come from and what does it mean?

Although this is not exactly a new term, a lot more people are discussing this due to GLP-1s being used more. People who are using GLP-1s are experiencing the lack of food noise (which is a good thing). Perhaps people have had food noise for so long that they don’t realise that there is such a life without it?

It is difficult to find an absolute definition for food noise, but one paper has given a definition based on a discussion with different health professionals which is, ‘Persistent thoughts about food that are perceived by the individual as being unwanted and/or dysphoric and may cause harm to the individual, including social, mental, or physical problems¹.’

However, the term rumination is a very similar concept, which is defined as ‘obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts or themes that interfere with other forms of mental activity².’ This can be related to anything, including ruminating about food. This term has been around for a long time therefore food noise is technically classed as a rumination around food. But what does food noise actually mean in real terms?

Have you ever gone through a day when most of your thoughts are about food? Whether you’re hungry or not. What food can I eat. What foods are ‘good.’ Do I have enough calories to eat this. ‘I really shouldn’t eat that’ – but then you’re constantly thinking about said food until the point you binge on it later. These are all examples of food noise.

It has been suggested that restrictive dieting could lead to a higher food noise in an individual rather than if an individual was restricting foods due to cultural or religious reasons¹. So have we been restricting ourselves too much by chronic dieting and therefore increasing our own food noise? Could food noise also be due to societal pressures of trying to be as small as possible?

So why can GLP-1s reduce food and how do they work? I won’t go into too much detail in this blog (maybe I’ll write another on this topic) but ultimately GLP-1s suppress your appetite. They do this by increasing the production of insulin within the pancreas which decreases the production of glucagon³. Glucagon is the hormone within the pancreas that helps break down glycogen (a form of glucose) in the liver. They also slow down the gastric emptying making you fuller quicker, and for longer. So they help reduce food noise by reducing your appetite.

But can we reduce our food noise without these medications? We can. It is possible. Many people who have been dieting for a long time (known as chronic dieting) have been through at least some kind of restrictive eating. Through some kind of bingeing and through some kind of viewing foods as black and white, or ‘good vs ‘bad. Overtime this can build up and create an unhealthy relationship with food. This can lead to the binge-restrict cycle. Chronic dieting can also lead to harmful health problems such as vitamin deficiencies, fertility problems, psychological distress, low self-esteem and fatigue amongst many others⁴. So what is the answer? Healing your relationship with food can help.

What do I mean by having a healthy relationship with food? Not restricting foods or food groups, not seeing foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ not binge eating, not feeling like you need to earn your food. If you feel this might be you, there’s no judgement here. I have been through this myself. Society puts so much pressure on us to look a certain way, to feel a certain way. It’s no wonder we have an unhealthy relationship with food. And I’m here to say that you can get out of this vicious cycle and remove the food noise. It’s not an easy journey, but it could be life changing.

So below are some actual steps to help you reduce food noise:

1.       Eat enough food and eat consistently

Eating too few calories than your body needs can lead to lack of energy, lack of micronutrients and constant food noise. Eat regular meals every 3-4 hours which contain protein, fibre, healthy fats and carbs!

2.       Eat ‘forbidden’ foods

Those foods that you love but class as ‘bad.’ Eat them. I’m not advising you to eat them everyday. But start to include them into your diet. Small portions of things you love not only take away the forbidden element, but it brings so much joy to your life.

3.       Reduce decision fatigue

If it helps due to a busy schedule or lack of energy, eat the same foods on repeat. For example, make overnight oats for breakfast for the next 3 mornings. Batch cook a spaghetti bolognaise or chicken pasta for the next few days. Just try get a diversity of foods within your snacks, different fruits, vegetables or nuts so you can grab and go.

4.       Be mindful

Are you really hungry right now? Or are you bored, emotional, tired? If you feel you’re not hungry how about trying to take your mind off it. How about doing some knitting or doing a workout or something else you enjoy?

5.       Normalise food neutrality

Instead of labelling food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or even junk. Call them what they are. Today I’m going to have a mars bar. Tomorrow for after my lunch I’m going to have some crisps. Yesterday I ate some jaffa cakes (sorry, had to) and I enjoyed them.

I hope these tips help. I hope this blog has helped. It IS possible to reduce food noise without medication (if that’s what you want). But these tips can also SUPPORT you whilst on GLP-1s too.

More research needs to be done on food noise so we can be more informed and help more people. But if you need any help or support, I do offer 1:1 calls to help you heal your relationship with food and reduce food noise.

Lorna xx

#foodnoise #glp-1s #healyourrelationshipwithfood #glp1medication

References

1.       Dhurandhar, E.J., Maki, K.C., Dhurandhar, N.V. et al. (2025) ‘Food noise: definition, measurement, and future research directions’, Nutrition & Diabetes, 15, p. 30.

2.       Smith, J.M. and Alloy, L.B. (2009) ‘A roadmap to rumination: A review of the definition, assessment, and conceptualization of this multifaceted construct’, Clinical Psychology Review, 29(2), pp. 116–128.

3.       Dapre, E. (2023) ‘Are GLP-1 agonists the answer to our obesity epidemic?’, British Journal of General Practice, 73(733), p. 365.

4.       Habib, A., Ali, T., Nazir, Z., Mahfooz, A., Inayat, Q., Haque, M.A. (2023) ‘Unintended consequences of dieting: How restrictive eating habits can harm your health’, International Journal of Surgery Open, 60.