Appetite is a vital part of a healthy diet and is necessary for optimum health. But sometimes, you might find that your appetite is not what it used to be. This could be because you’ve been under stress lately or haven’t been feeling well. Regardless of the reason, there are healthy ways to increase appetite.
1. Use different plate sizes to trick your brain
Large food quantities may be overwhelming and discouraging when you don’t have any appetite. To avoid these feelings, make your brain believe you’re still eating moderate amounts by serving your food on a bigger dish.
Using bigger dishes may encourage individuals to serve greater amounts of food. This works even if you don’t like the meal.
2. Eat more snacks instead of meals
If the idea of a large meal makes you lose appetite, try a small snack instead. So instead of pushing yourself to eat three large meals a day, eat six or seven snack-sized meals throughout the day. You can snack on high-protein soy products, which helps to increase appetite.
3. Get enough sleep
Getting enough rest and sleep are also healthy ways to increase appetite. When you’re sleep-deprived, it puts stress on your body, causing anxiety, resulting in you ignoring hunger signals.
When you’re tired all day, it’s easy to lose the desire to prepare nutritious meals and instead go for unhealthy snacks, fast food, or skip meals entirely.
To ensure you receive adequate rest, aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night for an average adult.
4. Eat with others
Preparing and eating a meal with others can help stimulate your appetite, and help you eat more.
Having people around when you eat might boost your desire to eat more food. When sharing a meal becomes a fun social activity, you might be encouraged to eat more.
So invite friends and loved ones over and eat together, that way you can boost your appetite. Eating with others is also a great way to improve your appetite after surgery.
5. Don’t skip breakfast
Breakfast is as essential as having regular meals throughout the day if you want to increase your appetite.
According to recent review research, missing breakfast may cause you to eat less throughout the day – the complete opposite of what you want.
Aside from that, eating breakfast may help you burn more calories throughout the day by increasing the body’s thermogenesis impact.
6. Bring out the flavors of your food
Perhaps, one of the reasons why you have decreased appetite is because you can’t taste your foods. This can happen during normal aging or as a symptom of an underlying illness.
You can boost the flavor of your meals by adding more herbs and spices. You could also try a dash of sriracha or tabasco sauce. Salt also helps bring out the flavor. However, you should see your doctor before adding more salt to your food if you have high blood pressure.
7. Exercise
Exercising is another healthy way you increase your appetite. When you exercise, your body burns calories to sustain your physical activities. Increased physical activity through exercise can increase your appetite to replenish the calories burned. Several studies have shown that regular exercise can increase human appetite.
8. Reduce your fiber intake
Although fiber is a vital part of a healthy diet, too much of it can leave you feeling full and bloated, which can reduce your appetite.
So if you’re looking to increase your appetite, try limiting your intake of high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and opt for more easily digestible foods like lean proteins and healthy fats.
Bottom Line
Having decreased appetite can result from your current mental or physical condition, new medications, or mineral and vitamin deficiencies.
However, you can increase your appetite by getting enough sleep time, increasing your plate size to take larger meals, or binging on protein-rich snacks during the day.
Other healthy ways to increase appetite include adding more flavor to your meals or setting a reminder not to skip breakfast. As a bonus, you can incorporate high-calorie drinks and smoothies to give your body its needed calories.
If you have trouble eating, talk to your doctor about increasing your appetite and gaining some healthy weight.
