Should People Who Don’t Feel Hungry in the Morning Worry?

We’ve all had those mornings when we just don’t feel like eating. As the day progresses, all we want in the hectic morning is a hot cup of coffee. Since coffee suppresses appetite, many people feel okay going without even a snack till noon. Because “breakfast is the most essential meal of the day,” this is a bad habit, as we’ve all heard. It’s also true that we should be hungry in the morning and that it’s bad if we aren’t. But is this true?

Maybe it Is

Online nutrition and wellness coach Marisa Hope makes the case that it’s harmful, in a popular Instagram video. She writes in the caption that not having an appetite in the morning, or for hours after waking, is not a positive thing. It frequently indicates blood sugar and cortisol abnormalities. It’s a good thing to have an appetite, especially in the morning. Our liver can only store so much glucose before it needs to get its energy from other sources.

It’s Not Necessary to Be Hungry in the Morning

You’re not alone if you don’t have an appetite in the morning, says Kristi Ruth, RD, LDN, and proprietor of an online recipe website. She claims that waking up without feeling hungry is very typical. This is believed to be brought on by a mix of hormones and the amount of food consumed the previous day or night.

In other words, a large meal eaten late at night may help you feel less hungry the following morning. Regarding changes in hormone levels, research indicates that estrogen and epinephrine, often known as adrenaline, may reduce hunger. Contrarily, progesterone and testosterone could make you hungrier. Therefore, hormonal shifts may account for why you don’t feel hungry one day but do the next.

Cortisol Levels Help People Wake Up

Tara Tomaino, RD and Nutrition Director at The Park, adds that not feeling hungry when you wake up isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hope’s Instagram remark regarding high cortisol and blood sugar abnormalities prompted her to respond, adding that cortisol is naturally high in the morning. Cortisol levels are higher in the morning, which helps us wake up and get ready for the day. Your blood sugar is low after a night of sleep because you haven’t eaten in a while, and that’s normal.

Even if not feeling hungry in the morning is probably alright, it could indicate a different health problem. According to Tomaino, if you’re consistently undereating (i.e., on a starvation diet and ingesting fewer than 1500 calories), you may lose your natural hunger cues since you’re constantly hungry. Someone whose macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) are out of balance may also experience this.