Ten reasons you are overeating

These may be the reasons behind why you tend to overeat. Photo / iStock

Do you find yourself overeating and always hungry for more? Here are ten reasons why that may be happening to you.

1: It's those TV dinners

Eating while watching television causes people to make poor food choices and also overeat. Studies where volunteers either ate while watching a show or watching nothing showed that those glued to the gogglebox ate more at the time and then snacked later, while the other group didn't. Researchers concluded that the TV watchers were so distracted that they had eaten almost without noticing. Several research papers have also linked food commercials with obesity. One UK study of 42 nine- to 11-year-old children showed that those who were obese recognised more food commercials than those who were not.

2: You have 'visual hunger'

Researchers at Oxford University suggest that looking at images of food has fuelled the obesity epidemic. One of the brain's key roles is to facilitate foraging and feeding. This skill was crucial when food was far less plentiful, but in modern times the constant images of "food porn" online and on television can trigger hunger more often than is good for us.

3: You're bolting your food

Eating too fast can lead to overeating because it takes 20 minutes for the digestive system to report back to the brain that the body feels full. Dieticians advise eating "mindfully" - slowly, without distraction and savouring your food - and stopping when you feel medium-full. Studies reported less binge-eating and less emotional eating when eating mindfully.

4: It could be diabetes

In uncontrolled diabetes where levels of blood glucose remain abnormally high - a condition known as hyperglycemia - glucose from the blood cannot enter the cells, due to either a lack of insulin or insulin resistance, so the body can't convert the food you eat into energy. This leads to an an increase in hunger (coupled with dramatic weight loss).

5: Maybe you're depressed

Emotional overeating happens when a person eats large quantities of food in response to negative emotions. With normal hunger, the desire to eat comes on gradually, is satisfied with a full stomach, is not urgent in nature and a range of foods seems appealing. But with emotional eating, the desire is urgent, is not satisfied with a full stomach, and often involves craving foods high in fat or sugar and leaves the eater feeling guilty or ashamed.

6: You're actually thirsty

Nutritionists say it's easy to confuse hunger and thirst: some people will snack in the mistaken belief they are hungry when in fact they are dehydrated. In one clinical study, 37 per cent of people confused thirst with hunger. This is because the thirst mechanism is relatively weak, kicking in only when the body is dehydrated - defined as losing two per cent of your body weight due to sweat loss or in urine.

7: You're a junk-food junkie

Research has shown that foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt may be addictive and can cause changes in the pleasure centres of the brain. It's a similar process to the way drug use can lead to addiction. Studies of laboratory animals have shown that rats that binge on sugar can show signs of dependency.

8: Blame the diet

Feeling deprived because you're trying to follow a strict eating regime can often cause dieters to "break" their diet and eat a forbidden food. The overwhelming guilt that follows, coupled with low self-esteem, can then prompt the dieter to carry on over-consuming the food they previously avoided to dull negative feelings.

9: It's the drugs

There are several drugs that are known to boost appetite as a side effect. This group of drugs includes anti-histamines and a type of anti-depressant, known as a tricyclic anti-depressant (TCA), which affects neurotransmitters of the brain. TCAs may also be used to treat migraine headaches. Doctors may prescribe a newer class of anti-depressant, called a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), that is not usually associated with weight gain.

10: Unlikely... but you may be harbouring a parasite!

Parasitic tapeworms, which can grow to between 15ft and 30ft in length, can live in the gut where they consume your food, leaving you hungry even after meals. Although extremely rare in the developed world, it's possible to contract tapeworm from undercooked meat or dirty water. If you're concerned, a stool test can identify the presence of a parasite or parasitic eggs. Tapeworms can be treated with medication, or can leave the body by themselves.

- Mail On Sunday