I won’t speak for everyone — only for myself. And I know I am far from alone in this complicated relationship with food.

I eat, just like everyone else. Two or three meals a day, plus the occasional snack. But eating isn’t the only thing I do with food. I think about it. While having breakfast, I am already considering what I would like for dinner. I scroll Instagram and save endless recipes I want to try. I suddenly crave a Snickers in the middle of the afternoon. And once I get one, I immediately want two more. Right now.

This phenomenon is called food noise — and it has surprisingly little to do with physical hunger. Instead, it is the constant stream of thoughts, urges, reminders, cravings and mental conversations about food that quietly runs in the background throughout the day, creating a rather strange internal soundtrack. More often than not, those thoughts eventually lead to eating.

So what exactly is food noise? Why does it seem to be everywhere right now? And what can we do about it? To find out, we spoke with Dr Negin Hakim, a UK-trained GP at Cornerstone Clinic Dubai and Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Interestingly, food noise is one of the few health concepts that wasn’t coined by doctors, researchers or psychologists. In many ways, it was invented by the people experiencing it.

The phrase food noise first appeared in Google searches as early as 2006, but it remained relatively niche for years. Then, in 2022, mentions of the term suddenly exploded. You might assume the pandemic was responsible, but researchers point to another trigger: the rapid rise of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

As patients began taking these medications, many reported the side effect. It wasn’t simply that they were eating less — the constant thoughts about food seemed to become quieter. In a sense, people only started recognising food noise once it disappeared.

(A quick note: GLP-1 medications should only be taken under medical supervision, as inappropriate use can pose serious health risks.)

Following this surge of public interest, the term gradually made its way into scientific literature. From 2023 researchers began describing food noise as a form of heightened food-cue reactivity — meaning the brain becomes unusually responsive to food-related triggers in its environment.

I went online to see how people describe it, and the responses generally fall into two camps.

Many compare food noise to having a radio playing in the background all day long. But the second group is perhaps more revealing. A lot of people describe food noise as simple hunger they can’t get rid of. They think about food until they eat, and sometimes keep thinking about it afterwards.

This is where things get interesting. What many people interpret as hunger isn’t always a signal that the body needs food. Food noise can be driven by stress, emotions, habits, boredom, routines, or simply constant exposure to food-related cues throughout the day.

In other words, what feels like a physical craving is often something far more psychological.

How common is food noise today? Much more than most people realise. According to recent surveys, 65% of people report regularly fighting the urge to eat even when they are not physically hungry. Yet only 12% are familiar with the term food noise itself.

I accidentally ran my own little experiment.

A while ago, I was transitioning between jobs and ended up with two weeks completely to myself. I already had a new project lined up, so money wasn't the source of stress, but I had no meetings, no deadlines, and no tasks left from my previous role. It wasn't a holiday or a trip. I was simply at home.

Naturally, I assumed I would spend half the day thinking about food. After all, what else do you do when your schedule is suddenly empty?

But the opposite happened. The cravings largely disappeared. I wasn't opening the fridge. I wasn't planning my next meal while finishing the current one. To my surprise, the food noise became much quieter, if not disappeared altogether. Which raises an interesting question: why does food noise become louder in some periods of life and almost disappear in others?

The answer is that our relationship with food has become far more complicated than simple hunger. Food no longer serves a single purpose. Today, it can be all of the following:

Now count how many of these sound familiar.

Personally? All of them. Add to that the fact that I genuinely love sweets and have a brain that responds very enthusiastically to dopamine, and it becomes much easier to understand why food sometimes occupies more space in my head than it probably should.

And perhaps that is the point. Food noise is rarely just about food.

Okay, let's say we have accepted it. We know what food noise is, and perhaps we have even recognised it in ourselves. So what now? Do we simply push through it, ignore it, and try not to eat?

Not exactly.

The biggest misconception about food noise is that it is a willpower problem. That if you think about food too often, crave snacks between meals, or find yourself constantly negotiating with the biscuit tin, you simply need more discipline.

In reality, it is usually much more complicated than that.

A more accurate way to think about food noise, she explains, is as a sign of dysregulated appetite signalling rather than a personal failing. And while most of these triggers sound familiar, that is exactly the point. They are basic, but they are also some of the biggest drivers of overeating:

After a bad night's sleep, your body starts looking for energy wherever it can find it. Research has consistently shown that sleep deprivation can increase hunger and cravings while making high-calorie foods seem more rewarding.

Think about the classic experiment: "Don't think about a pink elephant." What happens next? You immediately picture a pink elephant. Food works in much the same way.

When we are constantly surrounded by food cues, our brains stay focused on eating, regardless of whether we are physically hungry.

I have a soft spot for internet advice. Not because every tip works, but because most of it comes from people who have actually tested it in real life.

No, I am not going to tell you to quit social media altogether. But Instagram has given us the "Not Interested" button for a reason. If your feed is packed with recipe videos, restaurant reviews and endless shots of gooey cookies being pulled apart, it might be time to clean up the content that keeps pushing you towards food.

A surprisingly effective strategy is to make tempting foods slightly less accessible. If you know you are likely to obsess over a particular snack, keep it out of sight. Put it in a cupboard. Store it on a high shelf. Better yet, don't keep large amounts at home.

Many people notice that food noise is not random. It tends to show up at the same time every day. For some, it is the moment they get into bed. For others, it is the mid-afternoon slump or the hour after dinner.

Once you know when cravings usually appear, you can prepare for them. Have a healthier snack ready, make a cup of tea, drink some water, go for a short walk, or simply delay the craving by ten minutes and see what happens. Often, the urge passes faster than expected.

A personal trick that works for me: My sweet cravings almost always show up around 10pm. And rather than arguing with myself, I make a deal: if I still want it tomorrow morning, I can have it. No guilt, no restrictions.

The funny thing is that by the time morning arrives, I usually don’t want it anymore. Knowing that the food isn;t forbidden seems to take away some of its power.

I am not a medical professional. Dr Negin Hakim is. So here are the strategies she recommends most often.

First protein and fibre, then carbohydrates and fats. Both help improve satiety and stabilise blood sugar levels.

This one sounds slightly counterintuitive. If someone is constantly thinking about food, shouldn't they simply eat less often?

Not necessarily. Long gaps between meals can actually make food noise louder. When the body goes for hours without enough energy, hunger hormones such as ghrelin rise and the brain becomes more sensitive to food cues.