Top 9 Natural Ways to Increase Your Appetite

While having a poor appetite is unlikely to send you to the emergency room, it can lead to malnourishment, weakened immunity, a weak body, and a weak mind. Food is the fuel that your body needs to carry out its functions and maintain health. If you are working at gaining or maintaining a healthy weight, increasing appetite is more important. And even as you try out different methods to build a healthy appetite, consult your doctor to rule out any underlying problem.

How to Increase Appetite

1. Eat a Nutritious Breakfast

It may sound like a cliché, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having breakfast sets the "tone" for your energy and appetite for the whole day. Your digestive system digests more in the morning than in the afternoon or evening. This is why it is essential for you to eat a high-calorie diet.

Proteins and carbohydrates have to be present in your breakfast. Try and have breakfast 30 minutes after you wake up. It is advisable not to wait for hunger pangs to strike. Below is an example of what a high-calorie diet should include:

  • A serving of dairy for instance milk, cheese, or yogurt
  • A serving of nuts, for instance, macadamia, hazelnuts or almonds
  • A delicious serving of proteins such as fish or chicken
  • Whole grains such as oats or bran. Brown rice will also do.

2. Eat Small But Frequent Meals 

Don’t allow yourself to starve, as you will overcompensate in the next meal, which can be unhealthy. Eating small portions also lets you look forward to the next meal and increases your appetite for it as the anticipation is present. Make sure to eat after every two to three hours to increase appetite.

3. Drink Fluids

You might imagine that water is not a player in how to increase appetite. But its importance in any diet can never be over-emphasized. Water not only hydrates your body, but also flushes out toxins from your stomach, kidneys and blood stream and increases your appetite. Make sure to drink at least eight glasses of water. Also, make a habit to drink a glass of water one hour before, and after meals to aid in digestion.

4. Try to Eat Healthily

Avoid eating junk food such as pizza and fries as a way of improving appetite. Not only do these foods pack up your system with unhealthy calories, they also pose a serious health risk for you. Avoid carbonated beverages because they contain a lot of unhealthy sugars.

Instead, eat whole foods such as oats, bran, natural sugar, fruits, vegetables and white meat. If cooked well, they can provide sumptuous meals that will add tons of healthy benefits to your body and improve your appetite as well.

5. Don't Eat Too Much Fiber

Eat foods that are rich in fiber in moderation. Although they provide your body with healthy fiber that aids in digestion, fiber takes a lot to digest. Fibers fill your stomach much faster than other foods and may end up decreasing your appetite.

6. Exercise At Least 3 Days per Week

Exercise burns calorie and you will feel hungry afterward, increasing your appetite. You need to work out at least three days in a week while focusing on compound activities such as squats, pull-ups, and deadlifts. Exercise coupled with the right balance of proteins and carbohydrates will get you pumped and your appetite increased.

7. Choose Your Favorite Foods

A fast and efficient way on how to increase appetite is to just eat what you like! Have portions of what you like, especially snacks around the house. They will not only tantalize your taste buds, but also stand in for the times you don’t feel like eating anything. An excellent way to do this is to eat what you like in healthy portions made in a healthy way. For instance, if you like burgers, why don’t you try wholesome chicken burgers with avocado salsa?

8. Use Herbs and Spices in Cooking

Using herbs and spices to season your food is another method to increase appetite. The pleasant smell and flavor can titillate your taste buds and help you eat more. Experiment with different herbs and spices to keep yourself from getting bored with just one type of spice or herb and even cooking method.

Cinnamon has a sweet, fragrant smell and adds great taste to meals. You can use a dash of cinnamon when baking, in your cup of cocoa or toast. The aroma of thyme, oregano, basil or fennel is not only inviting, but will get your taste buds yearning for more.

9. Avoid Eating Alone

Food is always much better if you have great company. Always make sure that you have company of either family or friends during meal times. You are more likely to skip meals or eat junk food when you are alone. You can also take it a notch higher by joining a social club that you are interested in. That way you get an opportunity to enjoy great meals around people who share the same interest as you.

Note

There are cases where lack or loss of appetite is associated with lifestyle. For instance smokers, alcoholics and people who are accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle tend to experience appetite problems.

There are also cases where the loss of appetite is a side-effect of medications. Your doctor should be able to advise you further on what to do if that is the case. In other cases, loss of appetite may be an indication of more serious health problems like cancer.

In case your loss of appetite persists, in spite of following these "how to increase appetite" tips, you should probably seek medical attention. Your doctor will conduct various tests and come up with a conclusion and advice.

 
 
Current time: 03/28/2024 03:22:17 p.m. UTC Memory usage: 63716.0KB