always hungry.

Garyg123

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Why do I always feel like I could eat a horse after having a large meal? Something to do with insulin levels?
 

archersuz

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,213
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Maybe you are eating carbs without realising? I know I was surprised at some foods. What do you typically eat? Are you having enough fat?
 

Grateful

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Messages
1,398
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
Hard to give a response to your question without more details. Are you on a low-carb diet and if so for how long, what diabetes drugs are you taking (if any)?

I was very hungry after starting my current low-carb diet nearly a year ago. The hunger went away after four to six weeks. I alleviated the hunger during those first few weeks by eating lots of nuts, making sure to choose the low-carb varieties (nuts are a good appetite-cutter).

The usual explanation is that when you first cut back on carbs, your body is craving them.

It is interesting that your hunger comes after having "a large meal." This, I suspect, means that the meals in question are fairly carb-heavy -- because eating carbs tends to make you yearn for more.
 

Guzzler

Master
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10,577
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It sometimes takes a while to recognise the difference between hunger and peckish. We have spent our lives grazing on food through boredom/peckishness/habit and it can be a hard one to crack.
Try raising your fats a little or have a palmfull of nuts if you choose. I find that a creamed coffee is enough to assuage that feeling though it rarely happens these days. Good luck.
 

Garyg123

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hard to give a response to your question without more details. Are you on a low-carb diet and if so for how long, what diabetes drugs are you taking (if any)?

I was very hungry after starting my current low-carb diet nearly a year ago. The hunger went away after four to six weeks. I alleviated the hunger during those first few weeks by eating lots of nuts, making sure to choose the low-carb varieties (nuts are a good appetite-cutter).

The usual explanation is that when you first cut back on carbs, your body is craving them.

It is interesting that your hunger comes after having "a large meal." This, I suspect, means that the meals in question are fairly carb-heavy -- because eating carbs tends to make you yearn for more.
Hi, have been fairly low carb for a couple of months now. Take metformin 2x500. Glucose levels have been high though, typically 10-15 in the morning.
 

Grateful

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,398
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, have been fairly low carb for a couple of months now. Take metformin 2x500. Glucose levels have been high though, typically 10-15 in the morning.

Looking at your previous posts, it looks like you were diagnosed with T2 about two years ago and went on a low-carb diet back then? According to your post in this current thread, you have been "fairly" low carb for a couple of months now.

There are probably many different reasons why you might be feeling hungry after large meals. I think the suggestions from @Guzzler are good. Your morning BG levels seem high, do you have a recent HbA1c?
 

NewTD2

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,563
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
It could be the body adjusting from high carb to low carb diet perhaps?
 

StewartH

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I switched VLCHF a couple of years back and hunger vanished for 3 or 4 months. It has settled now and I do enjoy the occassional hungry moment. However I notice my sensation of hunger also increases if my blood sugars are high. Why is that I wonder?
 

kokhongw

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Why do I always feel like I could eat a horse after having a large meal? Something to do with insulin levels?

Yes. This might be the reason..
upload_2018-1-20_8-28-39-png.24982


The suggested approach is a carbs lite fats friendly meal that ensures a more stable glucose/insulin response.
 
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Deleted member 101090

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Why do I always feel like I could eat a horse after having a large meal? Something to do with insulin levels?
thats usually a sign of insulin resistance. i was like that for long long years and its mostly seen as "lack of will" but what it really is, is HUNGER! my guess and i am not a professional is that your body realises that not a lot of nutrition gets through and demands more.

i felt guilty a lot and for a long time because i felt like i was out of control and everybody else was a lot better at not being a greedy pig... and then came the change.. out of the blue i lost a lot of the hunger and appetite and have been losing weight steadily. i think a lot of how that works is being ignored by the medical profession. and they come out with "you need to lose weight" even after i told them that i had lost 8 stone. i think the only way to get this checked is to be honest to yourself and to the doctors and request/demand a thorough check and not accepting doctor induced ********. as i said, i know what it is like and i could not do anything about it. i went for a diet of 2 years which also included a complete change of habits and yet i was hungry all of those 2 years and had to control my hunger with my mind but it is unsustainable and wrong to think that your body is a well functioning thing if you're still hungry even after a large meal. maybe you could get checked for a hormonal imbalance, maybe you have other issues but you must know, it happens to other people too and it is not all psychological or bad willpower.

good luck finding an understanding and interested doctor
 
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Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I ALWAYS got hungry after a large meal. Ravenous actually. I always said I felt like insulin and blood sugar were bickering. The more full/ stuffed I was ( even bloated and pain) the hungrier I was.

Now I eat very small meals. ( You probably can’t even call them meals) and I eat them frequently. Something like a piece of deli meat with some avocado smashed in. Sometimes rolled in a lettuce leaf. Or a a few bites of some protein and avocado with a few celery sticks. Avo at all meals for me. The fat and fiber keep me full for awhile.
This allows me to take low doses of insulin and keeps my bg from big fluctuations. Which also staves off hunger.
Just protein and fat makes me hungry. Carbs, even a small portion of veggies without protein and fat make me hungry. I am very carb intolerant in multiple way so I just eat very few veggies but a little with each meal.
At th end of the day, the very small snack sized meals keeps everything happier.

I think, at least with me it’s keeping bg and insulin balanced.
 
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JeanCL

Active Member
Messages
36
It sometimes takes a while to recognise the difference between hunger and peckish. We have spent our lives grazing on food through boredom/peckishness/habit and it can be a hard one to crack.
Try raising your fats a little or have a palmfull of nuts if you choose. I find that a creamed coffee is enough to assuage that feeling though it rarely happens these days. Good luck.
Why do I always feel like I could eat a horse after having a large meal? Something to do with insulin levels?
- If hungry before bed, after having evening meal earlier, I find a heaped tablespoon of full-fat yoghourt or a chunk of cheese helps a lot - no or very low carbs!
 

rmz80

Well-Known Member
Messages
332
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Over the past year Ive read a lot about hunger and the “satiety” of foods. The following link is useful. http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/fullness-factor

Finding an answer to this is usually the main issue with the success of weight control.

Ive slowly built up a list of foods based on the “fullness factor” mentioned in this link. The main food group of interest are high water content that are also very low calorie.

For me; If I get hungry then eating gerkins dipped in Tabasco gets rid of the hunger. The other being Sauerkraut (usually in the Polish section of supermarkets) with Tabasco or vinegar.
 
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kokhongw

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
One other interesting point about hunger suppression is ketosis and ketones. When we reach a state of nutritional ketosis, the glucose and insulin level drops and ketone level rises to bridge the energy gap. That is when our brain reach a state of zen and stops sending the panic signals for more food...

This chart shows what typically happens in a 5 day fast. When glycogen runs out on day 2, that is the most challenging time of the fast, because ketone level hasn't reach the level needed to replace glucose. After day 2, there is no longer any sense of hunger.
https://thequantifiedbody.net/fast-mimicking-diet/
Glucose-Ketones-Fast-mimicking-diet.png
 

BaliRob

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Messages
596
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
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I can identify with the original poster - I do not feel hungry after sleep, after breakfast BUT after lunch - that is a different problem. Mixed vegetables and boiled chicken can hardly be called 'high carb' - it is like having a hunger' switch' switched on - answers please
 

Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I can identify with the original poster - I do not feel hungry after sleep, after breakfast BUT after lunch - that is a different problem. Mixed vegetables and boiled chicken can hardly be called 'high carb' - it is like having a hunger' switch' switched on - answers please
Is there any fat in there? Not only will fat, like butter, slow the bs from the carbs and protein but it will be more satisfying. I need fat with all meals and snacks
 

ickihun

Master
Messages
13,698
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
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Bullies
Why do I always feel like I could eat a horse after having a large meal? Something to do with insulin levels?
Carbs..... They are addictive. Mc Donalds and a Chinese takeaway famous for it.