While not a formal clinical diagnosis, the concept of "food noise" has gained significant attention recently, particularly with the rise of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Saxenda, and Mounjaro. These weight-loss medications have unexpectedly revealed another benefit—they appear to reduce persistent thoughts about food and addiction, sparking new research into the underlying mechanisms behind it.
Many of my clients don't want to take GLP-1 medication, or it is not appropriate for them. There are several others ways to cope with food noise, which I list at the bottom of this post.
What is Food Noise?
Food noise refers to the persistent mental chatter about food that many people experience throughout their day. It includes worries about what to eat, feeling guilty about food choices, and experiencing strong cravings, and overthinking nutritional decisions. This mental chatter can make eating feel stressful rather than a pleasurable experience.
It's important to note that food noise isn't related to actual hunger or food scarcity. It’s about being preoccupied with thoughts about food. Medical professionals previously described these as “eating-related intrusive thoughts” or “food-related preoccupations”. Food Noise is now integral to the conversation about nutrition and weight loss.
The prevalence of food noise today largely stems from our immersion in diet culture, which constantly bombards us with messages about "acceptable" and "unacceptable" foods. Many people don't realize how much mental bandwidth these thoughts consume until they experience relief from them.
Diet Culture: What It Is and 5 Ways to Cope With It
Why Food Noise Matters
In a 2023 issue of the journal Nutrients, researchers conceptualized food noise as “rumination and obsessive preoccupation with food”. The constant internal commentary about food, eating habits, and body image can be emotionally exhausting and deeply disruptive. It's an issue that goes far beyond dietary concerns or weight management - it's affects mental health, self-esteem, and engaging fully with life.
Food noise exists on a spectrum of intensity. For some, it manifests as unceasing internal dialogue in their heads about what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and so on, it can be distracting and distressing. These individuals might find themselves planning their next meal while still eating their current one.
For those experiencing intrusive food noise, it might cause sleep disruption, leave them feeling overwhelmed, paralyzed by indecision and ultimately, disconnected from their own hunger cues. The constant pressure to “eat right” can cause guilt or shame around eating and lead to disordered eating patterns. This mental burden can get in the way of someone being able to function at their best.
Food noise can limit concentration and focus by constantly pulling attention away from important tasks, preventing full engagement in activities, and diminishing opportunities for connection, creativity, and relationship development.
Conversely, individuals with mild food noise may barely register it—experiencing it as background static that occasionally intensifies before fading again.
Who is Vulnerable to Food Noise and Why
While anyone can experience food noise, research indicates that people with obesity often face more intense food-related thoughts, which can complicate weight management efforts. This makes logical sense, if you’re having an excessive level of food noise, you’re more likely to do something about it and that’s to eat.
In fact, research in the journal Obesity Reviews found that heightened reactivity to food cues often induces cravings and influences eating behaviour, contributing to weight gain. Additionally, a 2024 report from Weight Watchers and STOP Obesity Alliance found that “more than half of people living with overweight or obesity experience food noise”—which many report makes maintaining healthy eating and exercise routines more challenging.
Other people who may be especially susceptible include those with an eating disorder or disordered eating patterns. If you’re restricting your food intake or skipping meals, you’re likely to have more food noise—your body is giving you signals that you need more nourishment.
Those with numerous food rules or a history of yo-yo dieting may also experience more pronounced food noise. Furthermore, a study in a 2024 issue of the journal Appetite found that food noise is prevalent among people with orthorexia nervosa—a condition characterized by an obsessive focus on healthy eating, rigid dietary rules, and persistent concerns about food purity.
How GLP-1 Medications Quiet Food Noise
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Saxenda, and Mounjaro function by interacting with specific receptors located in both your brain and gastrointestinal tract that regulate hunger signals and appetite control. GLP-1 is short for glucagon-like peptide 1, a naturally occurring hormone in the body that plays a role in blood sugar regulation, appetite sensations, and digestive processes.
They also appear to influence the reward system in your brain in ways that counteract persistent food noise. GLP-1 receptors are distributed throughout your brain, including in the hypothalamus and the reward centres. Regarding food noise specifically, these medications are interacting with multiple receptors and that diminishes the continuous release of these signals that crowd out other thoughts and emotions.
Essentially, by disrupting these dopamine reward pathways in the brain, these medications are disrupting these disordered thought processes about food.
This effect aligns with a new study in the journal Addiction which discovered that GLP-1 receptor agonists may help people struggling with addiction: The study indicated that individuals with an alcohol use disorder experienced a 50 percent lower rate of drinking to the point of intoxication if they were taking these drugs; meanwhile, those with an opioid use disorder who were taking these drugs had a 40 percent lower incidence of overdose.
Many people don't realise the extent of their food noise until they begin these medications and suddenly they’re thinking more clearly and experience newfound cognitive space. While the direct connection between this mental relief and weight outcomes remains unclear, the psychological freedom gained often translates to improved quality of life regardless of weight changes.
12 Ways to Quiet Your Food Noise, Naturally
People who aren’t taking GLP-1 medications can still take steps to ease food noise. As a starting point, I recommend looking at your health habits, including your sleep hygiene, eating timing, hydration, exercise, and stress management. It’s harder to combat these intrusive thoughts when you’re tired or stressed.
Here are some steps you can take to silence the food noise and reconnect with your own inner enteroception:
- Investigate Your Hunger. Solve the hunger mystery by asking yourself, "What happens if I say no to this food?" If you react emotionally, it's likely food noise, not true hunger. It can help to keep a log or journal to identify patterns and triggers for your food noise.
- G.E.T This Acronym. Check for Gradually increasing desire for food, Emptiness in your stomach, and Timing (about 3 hours since last meal). If food noise is really loud when you go five hours without eating, go three to four hours instead.
- Stop Dieting. Restriction and cutting out food groups is the number-one trigger of food noise. When people give themselves permission to eat what they want, it can have an amazing effect on reducing food noise. Restriction and feelings of deprivation contribute to food noise. All foods are okay to eat mindfully.
- Nourish. Fill up on nourishing foods. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. These foods keep you satisfied longer and reduce food noise.
- Distraction. When food noise hits, distract yourself with something enjoyable: reading, walking, texting etc. Engaging your mind in an activity utilises a different part of your brain. Exercising or engaging in enjoyable activities that stimulate the release of dopamine, such as reading or listening to music, could also help quiet food noise.
- Unplug from the noise machine. Take a break from social media, diet blogs, and food documentaries for a while. Give yourself space to breathe and reconnect with your own intuition.
- Satisfaction. Make an effort to eat regularly and choose foods that are physically and psychologically satisfying to you vs. what you think you “should” eat. Feeling satisfied reduces food noise.
- Breathe. Take short breaks for deep breathing or stretching to reset your mind and reduce anxiety around food.
- Energise Mindfully. If you're eating because you think you need an energy boost, try a quick jog in place or some black tea instead.
- Eat Mindfully. While eating, slow down and engage in mindful eating, so that you’re paying attention to the sensory properties of food. That will help you maximise your enjoyment of what you’re eating. Stop multitasking. Slow down. Be present. And enjoy each bite!
- Self-Compassion. Acknowledge that it’s okay to have ups and downs in your eating journey. Treat yourself with the same kindness you would offer a friend. Keep in mind that food noise is a common affliction so don’t beat yourself up for it. Instead, exercise some self-compassion. The way we talk to ourselves matters so be mindful about what you’re saying to yourself about food noise.
- Focus on progress, not perfection. Remember, this is a journey, not a destination. There will be ups and downs, but celebrate your progress along the way.
Learning to quiet food noise can help you enjoy meals, listen to your body, and find balance in your eating habits.
