what is food noise? inside the cravings and intrusive thoughts that are impossible to ignore
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riffat sheikh (left) and angela martin (right) both experience food noise, and with treatment, are hoping to move on from it once and for all.
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most people don’t understand the experience of food noise. they don’t understand the constant mental chatter surrounding food, whether it be persistent cravings or thinking about what you’ll eat next, even if you’ve just finished eating. for people who experience food noise, the feeling is an all-too-familiar struggle that is impossible to ignore.
“i’m a perfect poster child for this,” said angela martin, a nurse with a digital health tech company living in toronto. “when you talk to other people who don’t experience it, you realize that you’re alone in this and that there are very few people out there. so, food noise is the constant thought process behind every other product, like just your day-to-day life.”
martin, who loves trying all types of foods because of the differing tastes and textures, has found that in some cases, the food noise can be so loud thinking about the next meal that it can affect personal relationships.
“i would go out intentionally and have dinner with friends. i would take food home, and i’d be like, ‘i’m going to have that tomorrow for supper, and it’s going to be great,’” she said. “then, my partner would take it, and i would rip a … strip off him.”
riffat sheikh, a booking coordinator in vancouver with aspirations of becoming a speaker and author to help others living with obesity, also experiences food noise in her day-to-day life. she notes that the thoughts feel intrusive.
“[i was] just wanting to constantly eat unhealthy, and kept grabbing the unhealthy foods,” she said, noting that her big cravings were often centred around fast food, such as tim hortons, mcdonald’s, and other convenience-style cuisines.
uncontrollable thoughts about food
whether the thoughts are coined as intrusive or more obsessive-like, the end result is the same—food noise acts as a steady stream of wanting to eat, regardless of hunger cues. it’s not a medical diagnosis, and the term itself is relatively new. while it was first seen in google searches in the early 2000s, it wasn’t until the introduction of weight loss drugs in the last decade that it really took off.
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“i didn’t necessarily know i had food noise until someone mentioned what food noise was, and then i’m like, ‘yeah, i really am driven by food,’” said martin. “it’s sort of like a newer term in the last, probably, 10 years.”
it isn’t as simple as just wanting to eat a lot. food noise takes centre stage in people’s lives, to the point where it can disrupt their lives.
“it was hard to focus. i wanted to go through the drive-through and think about, ‘okay, after work, i’m just going to go get tim horton’s and eat something,’” said sheikh.
martin likens food noise to obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) in a way, in the sense that the thoughts of food don’t come and go—they are as persistent as they would be in someone with ocd who has to continuously check if they locked the door or turned off their stove before heading out of the house.
for martin, who works from home, food noise doesn’t interfere with her ability to focus on the job. it’s more so when she’s out and about that the food noise takes over.
she had recently gone on vacation with her son to asia, and during that time, she thought mainly about how much new food she could try while she was there. she’ll also get food when she’s in a certain part of the city because it’s there, not because she necessarily wants it or is hungry for it at that moment.
“i would love to be able to just go out and not have to pay attention to what else is around me, because that happens all the time. it’s constant,” she said. “i wish i could have a boring diet for a while. i just don’t like the thought of eating the same dishes every day … where’s the fun in life?”
triggers may differ, but the end result is the same
for sheikh, certain things could trigger her food noise to get worse. for example, if she got into an argument with someone or someone commented on her body size, it would turn up the volume of the food noise she experienced, driven by her emotions.
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other potential triggers that others may experience include boredom, food advertising and physiological changes such as poor sleep or restrictive dieting.
however, triggers aren’t always present in people who experience food noise. sometimes, the food noise is just there, and someone’s lifestyle complements its existence. for example, stress and low feelings don’t amp up martin’s food noise. it’s quite the opposite.
“we were always a food-focused family. we would celebrate, you know. there’s a lot of things that are surrounding food. i like to be in person with people,” said martin. “breaking bread with someone is very special. it’s a special ritual, so i feel joy, and i want to eat.”
however, martin does note that while the food noise doesn’t become amplified with stressful events, feeling sad or depressed does make her more susceptible to making poorer food choices. her environment is, more than anything, her biggest trigger.
“i’m a bit of a frugal shopper, having shopped for a family for so many years and with the price of groceries, always looking for something different. so, i was just at the store the other day, and i’m like, ‘oh, chips are two for $2.22. where am i going to get a price like that?’” she said.
even though she had told herself she wasn’t eating chips right now and that she would save them for company, justifications in her mind, she bought both bags, and they were both gone because she had the constant thoughts of eating them at the back of her mind.
learning to cope with food noise
martin is on a glp-1, ozempic, but has yet to experience any change in her experience with food noise, as she hasn’t been on it long enough to reach the dose that really snuffs it out. while the medication hasn’t touched the food noise yet, her blood sugar has stabilized to the point where she has experienced low blood sugar, something she “never, ever, ever” had before.
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in learning how to cope with food noise in other ways, she keeps her fridge stocked with healthy foods and loves cooking vegetables in a variety of ways, and even when she has a craving, she’ll do fun little workarounds in the kitchen to address the craving, as was the case recently with mashed potatoes.
“i’m trying to eat lower carb,” she said. “so, i used one potato, and i used five carrots and a whole head of broccoli, and i boiled it, and then i mashed it like i would mash potatoes. i only had a little bit of the potato in there, and it totally solved the problem. i need to take care of these cravings, but the cravings are the food noise.”
she’ll also recreate her favourite takeout dishes at home using healthier ingredients and cooking methods, such as an air fryer or a bacon-free sandwich.
according to martin, it’s hard to make people understand food noise if they haven’t experienced it themselves, but for her, “it doesn’t control my life.”
“i’m not thinking about it every hour of every day, but i definitely think about it first thing when i wake up in the morning,” she said. “i’m thinking about it before i go to bed, what i’m going to eat when i get up. i think probably other people have it worse, and at times it’s worse for sure, like cravings are really hard.”
sheikh’s food noise has quieted down greatly, thanks to a new weight-loss program she’s been on that involves glp-1 medication, learning healthy baking and cooking skills, and cognitive therapy to address the emotional piece.
so far, that’s worked quite well for her.
“it’s really subsided. sometimes, i want a treat,” she said, noting that instead of going through the drive-through, she’ll now make herself a healthy dessert using almond flour, lentils and other health-forward ingredients. “i can still have treats, but in a healthy way.”
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the food noise is no longer controlling her choices, and in the last seven months, she’s lost over 82 lbs.
“i’m almost there, and i hope to help people one day and be a coach myself,” she said.
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