Too Anxious To Eat: The Link Between Anxiety And Loss Of Appetite And Managing It

Medically reviewed by Paige Henry, LMSW, J.D.

Updated April 19, 2024by BetterHelp Editorial Team

Mental health concerns such as panic disorders and chronic stress can suppress the urge to eat in some people. You may reduce symptoms such as appetite loss with health interventions such as meditation and regular exercise. Other methods, such as eating a bland diet and avoiding panic triggers, might make eating easier. Addressing the underlying roots by working with a licensed mental health professional online can also be helpful.

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Is your anxiety keeping you from getting enough to eat?

Work through your anxiety with a therapist

How can anxiety suppress your appetite?

Hunger is generally a vital biological drive, and it might seem strange that your emotions could suppress it for more than a little while. However, anxiety may be linked to an equally primal instinct: the urge to run away.

Researchers have found evidence that people with higher baseline anxiety tend to have increased activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which is the network of nerves and glands that typically trigger your response to danger.

When the sympathetic nervous system is strongly activated, your body usually shifts its focus toward the functions that are essential for fending off or running away from danger:

Your pupils may dilate, potentially letting more light in so you can see the threat clearly.
Your lungs may expand to let you take in more oxygen. You may also feel the urge to take big gulps of air.
Your heart may beat faster to pump all that oxygen to your muscles.
Your body may flood with adrenaline. This stress hormone can put you on high alert and trigger an urge to move.

Anything that’s not essential to your immediate survival usually gets shut down for the moment so that your body can put its resources into getting you out of danger. That can include your urge to eat and drink. After all, you can last a lot longer without food than you can in the stomach of a saber tooth tiger!

Feelings of anxiety can increase your sympathetic nervous system’s activity, even when there’s no real threat to your safety. This may be even more common with mental health conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder. This increased stress response might stop you from feeling hungry when your body needs food.

Gastrointestinal symptoms and anxiety

Another way that anxiety can make it difficult to eat may be by disrupting the normal activity of your stomach and intestines. Some studies indicate that people with an anxiety disorder can be more likely to experience frequent nausea, along with other gastrointestinal disturbances, such as heartburn, diarrhea, and constipation. You might find it hard to work up an appetite if you’re feeling sick to your stomach.

Social phobia and difficulty eating

Some people may experience fear and anxiety specifically related to social interactions. The psychological community often refers to this phenomenon as social anxiety or social phobia. This might interfere with your ability to eat in social settings like dinner parties or family gatherings. If you find that you frequently feel sick, worried, and unable to eat around others, you may be experiencing social anxiety.

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How to fix loss of appetite due to anxiety

A persistent lack of appetite can have negative effects on your health. If you aren’t eating enough, you may begin to experience malnutrition, potentially leading to problems such as:

Weakness and loss of muscle mass
Low energy
Poor cardiovascular health
Diarrhea
Decreased immune system function

Poor nutrition can also contribute to psychological symptoms, including apathy, depression, and increased anxiety.

On a positive note, this suggests that restoring healthy eating habits can assist you in recovering from anxiety. Here are a few ways you may be able to improve your nutritional health when anxiety is suppressing your appetite.

Exercise regularly

Research on the health benefits of exercise suggests that maintaining a regular exercise routine can improve your appetite sensitivity. That can mean you’re more likely to feel hungry when your body has a genuine need for energy. Habitual exercise appears to help your body better time its cycles of hunger and food intake.

It may not be necessary to engage in high-intensity workouts to get these benefits. For many people, adopting a light but regular exercise habit can improve their appetite. As a bonus, there’s evidence that exercise can reduce your overall level of anxiety.

Eat smaller portions more often

When your loss of appetite makes it difficult to finish a meal, it may be helpful to plan lots of smaller meals throughout the day. Scheduling can help with this, since you may not be receiving the normal hunger cues that it’s time to eat. This approach may also require thinking ahead and taking healthy foods with you throughout the day to avoid falling into a habit of eating unhealthy snacks.

Look for foods that are easy to eat

Some foods may be easier to consume despite a lack of appetite. For example, many people find that liquid foods feel less filling than solids, so you might try smoothies or eat soup or similar food choices to ensure you’re taking in enough energy. It can be possible to make nutrition-rich drinks by blending vegetables and high-fiber foods with a little bit of fruit for sweetness. Keep in mind that premade smoothies sold in stores can have large amounts of added sugar, so it may be better for your health if you prepare your own drinks.

If anxiety-related gastrointestinal issues are making it difficult to eat, you may find it helpful to consume blander meals. Bland foods tend to be easy for the digestive system, high in fiber, mild in flavor, and soft in texture. This can make them less likely to trigger nausea, heartburn, and other stomach issues. Examples may include rice, bread, oatmeal, cereals, tofu, lean meats, and certain vegetables, such as carrots, beans, and spinach.

Practice meditation

Adopting a regular habit of meditation may reduce the physiological stress response that’s suppressing your appetite. Studies have found that regular meditation can lower stress markers such as blood pressure, cortisol, and inflammatory molecules, not to mention improving participants’ overall mood. This may not require a large investment of time. Many of these experiments have observed beneficial results from just 15-20 minutes of meditation per day.

Manage your stressors to regulate stress hormones

Anxiety may not affect you the same way in every situation. Many people feel increased sensations of worry or panic in response to particular sources of stress, such as loud noises, social situations, or unfamiliar places. You may find it helpful to take note of what kinds of stressors make it difficult for you to feel hungry. Then, you can attempt to plan your meals for times when these factors are less likely to be present. Additionally, it can help to be mindful of any instances of anxiety after eating, as this may indicate specific foods or eating habits that could be exacerbating your anxiety symptoms.

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Is your anxiety keeping you from getting enough to eat?

Work through your anxiety with a therapist

An anxiety disorder can also cause overeating

Not everyone with anxiety experiences a loss of appetite. Many people with chronic feelings of worry or panic are prone to overeating, binge-eating, or consuming unhealthy but flavorful foods. This may provide some psychological comfort in response to the stress produced by anxiety. For some, the two phenomena may be related. An individual may feel unable to eat during periods of intense anxiety, then overeat later to compensate once their hunger returns.

Many of the interventions suggested above may also reduce tendencies toward overeating. For example, some research indicates that regular exercise can prevent overeating. Reducing your stress through meditation or progressive muscle relaxation can make you less likely to overindulge in comfort foods as well. Other things that might help include getting better sleep, scheduling meals at regular intervals, and avoiding eating while distracted by television or the internet.

Therapy for generalized anxiety disorder may improve your eating habits

Interventions like eating bland foods or avoiding stressors may make it easier to consume enough food despite a lack of appetite. However, your best bet may be to address the anxiety that’s causing your difficulties with eating. The American Psychological Association’s research-based clinical practice guidelines indicate that psychotherapy may be the most effective way to treat anxiety. Working with a therapist may be your best path toward reduced anxiety and better nutritional health.

Some people with anxiety find it difficult to seek and attend therapy in person. Online therapy can offer a convenient alternative, allowing you to locate a licensed mental health professional through the internet and communicate with them using remote tools like online chat and voice or video calls. The increased sense of distance and control this option typically provides may help you feel more comfortable engaging in the therapeutic process.

A 2016 review of the existing clinical research concluded that internet-based therapy can be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders in adults. This paper examined past studies on several different diagnoses, including generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia, and panic disorder, among others. The researchers concluded that online therapy generally showed no drop in effectiveness compared to face-to-face treatment.

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Takeaway

Anxiety can disrupt eating habits in a variety of ways, including suppressing your appetite by activating your body’s fight-or-flight response (an instinctive reaction). You may be able to counteract this with strategies such as exercise and meditation. Adjusting your diet and eating schedule might also make it easier to get enough nutrition despite a reduced appetite. You might also find it helpful to engage in therapy to treat your anxiety, which may be an effective way to treat the root cause of your loss of appetite. Take the first step toward getting support with anxiety and loss of appetite and contact BetterHelp today.

Frequently asked questions

Read more below for answers to questions commonly asked about this topic.

How do I deal with anxiety and loss of appetite?

If you’re experiencing a loss of appetite due to anxiety, it will likely be most helpful to focus on the anxiety itself while maintaining your other sources of self-care. Self-care refers to any action you take to increase your overall well-being, but three components are especially important. Diet, sleep, and exercise are foundational to mental and physical health.

If you’re struggling to keep eating, it is hard to have energy for exercise and sleep disturbances may be exacerbated. Try to eat what you can, when you can, just to provide enough energy for your body to function. Restricted food intake can make anxiety worse, so it is important to try to consciously get nutrients when able. You should also consider working with a therapist to address chronic feelings of stress, anxiety and worry. It can be challenging to push through anxiety and keep up with basics like diet and exercise; a therapist can likely make the process easier and help address your anxiety at its core.

What are five coping skills for dealing with anxiety?

Five common ways to manage anxiety are outlined below:

Deep Breathing. Deep breathing is a commonly recommended anxiety relief technique, and although it is simple and easy to do, it is one of the quickest and most effective techniques available. Begin by slowly inhaling over four to six seconds, holding your breath for a moment, and then slowly exhaling for another four to six seconds.
Intentional Movement. Activities like yoga, tai chi, and qigong are all excellent ways to lower anxiety without extreme physical activity.
Cognitive Challenge. Challenging and countering anxiety-inducing thoughts is known to reduce the severity of high anxiety and its physical symptoms. Next time a thought that causes worry pops into your mind, try consciously replacing it with thoughts of more positive outcomes.
Regular Exercise. Moderate physical activity like jogging or a brisk walk may be as effective as some medications for reducing anxiety symptom severity. There are short and long-term benefits, but sustained physical activity of at least 90 minutes per week is likely helpful.
Keep Up on Self Care. Exercise is an important part of staying mentally well, but so is getting enough sleep and eating a healthy diet. Anxiety can make self-care more challenging, and as your self-care habits become less consistent, your anxiety may worsen.

How do you deal with loss of appetite?

Many things can cause a loss of appetite. If you experience sudden changes in appetite, struggle to swallow or keep food down, or are experiencing unexpected weight loss, strongly consider scheduling an appointment with a medical professional for evaluation. While anxiety can cause a loss of appetite, many other conditions can also impact how a person perceives physical sensations of hunger. Follow your medical provider’s recommendations and seek referrals to other professionals as needed. Medical and mental health providers can help you figure out how to fix loss of appetite due to anxiety or another condition.

How can I overcome my fear and anxiety naturally?

One of the best ways to overcome fear and anxiety is by working with a therapist to confront them. There are many non-pharmacological treatment options for anxiety, meaning that anxiety can be effectively treated without medication. A therapist can help discover the source of your anxiety and initiate an appropriate psychotherapeutic treatment that directly addresses the root cause of your feelings. They can help you figure out why you feel frequently stressed and help you learn strategies to change how your brain will respond to future anxiety triggers.

A therapist will likely also work with you to establish healthy self-care routines. Self-care refers to any healthy strategies you use to increase your overall well-being. Unhealthy coping mechanisms, like substance use or social withdrawal, are not part of self-care. At a minimum, your therapist will likely help you stabilize your diet, sleep, and physical activity, all of which are considered foundational to good mental and physical health.

How common is loss of appetite with anxiety?

Evidence suggests that many people experience changes in appetite when anxious, and although many people consider stress to be associated with overeating, a mini literature review found that about 40% of people report a reduced appetite when anxious. Stress hormones cause significant changes within the body and are known to disrupt the neurohormonal control factors associated with hunger. However, researchers are still working to determine exactly what factors determine whether a person will overeat, undereat, or experience no changes in hunger when anxious.

Can long-term anxiety cause loss of appetite?

Long-term stress and anxiety can have a significant effect on a person’s appetite. They may overeat as a form of stress management or experience a diminished hunger sensation. Researchers theorize that appetite suppression may be due to hormones associated with stress. For example, a person’s stomach may take longer to empty if their adrenal glands secrete excessive corticotropin-releasing hormone (also known as corticotropin-releasing factor). The delayed emptying of the stomach may mean it takes longer for that person to feel hunger, and they may be more likely to experience unpleasant digestive effects, like nausea or bloating.

How does stress affect your appetite?

Stress affects almost everyone’s appetite, but predicting whether their appetite will increase or decrease is not always possible. Evidence suggests that about 40% of people experience an appetite decline, while about 40% report an appetite increase. “Stress-eating” is more commonly studied than appetite suppression due to stress and anxiety, likely due to the harmful effects overeating can cause.

Anxiety is connected to an increased risk of obesity, but it is also connected to a variety of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa (for more information or for help with an eating disorder, visit the website of the National Eating Disorders Association). Researchers are still working to determine exactly what factors predict whether a person will overeat, undereat, or experience no appetite changes when encountering high stress and anxiety.

Why does anxiety increase with hunger?

Hunger is a bodily signal that indicates a person needs to obtain nutrients. As hunger grows, the signal becomes stronger and stronger, and it eventually becomes difficult to focus on anything else. Eating stimulates the cognitive reward system, releasing “happy chemicals” reinforcing the behavior. In contrast, hunger reduces those chemicals, making it more difficult to achieve a peaceful state when hungry. The downcontrol of neurochemicals necessary for a person to feel calm and unstressed is exacerbated by hunger, subsequently increasing anxiety.

Can stress, anxiety, and depression cause loss of appetite?

Stress, anxiety, and depression can all cause a loss of appetite. They can also cause an increase in appetite, leading to overeating. In some cases of severe depression, people lose a desire to eat regularly. With anxiety, people might be so anxious that they focus their energy on survival rather than trying to lead a healthy life, which could cause either overeating or undereating. Researchers are still uncertain what factors determine whether a person will undereat, overeat, or experience no appetite changes when faced with stress, anxiety, and depression. For more information on depression and anxiety, see the following resource of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/depression-anxiety.html.

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