One of the most challenging issues that many people complain about is loss of appetite which happens when someone has no wish to eat. Poor appetite can happen due to various factors such as mental and physical sickness. If the loss of appetite persists for more than a few days, it can trigger weight loss or malnourishment. Lack of appetite can be annoying for anyone, particularly people who are too thin and striving to put on weight or build mass. It is important to choose the best ways to increase appetite.
The best ways to increase appetite
1. Eat smaller meals regularly
For those people who have a poor appetite, it is very difficult to eat three full meals. It is advisable to split their three full meals into five or six smaller meals. As their appetite increases, they can augment the parts of these meals, or increase the ingredients to absorb more calories during the day.
2. Consume nutrient-dense foods
People who suffer from loss of appetite are inclined to consume empty calories such as candy, chips, ice cream and baked products to put on weight. Although these types of foods might sound more mouth-watering and include high quantities of calories, they’re not good foods because they have very few nutrients. Rather, focus on foods that are rich in calories and provide a wide diversity of nutrients such as protein and healthy fats.
3. Include more calories in your foods
You can also improve your appetite by including more calories in your foods. The most recommendable way is to prepare your meals with calorie-rich ingredients such as butter, nut butter, olive oil or whole milk. This is one of the easiest and best ways to increase appetite.
4. Enjoy eating food
Cooking and consuming food with others can be enjoyable enough to improve your appetite. To make meals more appetizing to eat, you can eat meals with friends and family members. If you cannot eat meals with them, you can eat them while watching TV.
5. You can make use of different plate sizes
If you do not have a healthy appetite, viewing big pieces of meals can be annoying and disappointing. A way to avoid being disappointed is to make your brain think you are still serving small pieces. You can do this by eating your meal on a big plate rather than a small one.
6. Plan meal times
Hunger typically reminds people to eat. Still, if you are not hungry, you cannot count on your appetite to inform you when to eat. If you have this problem, it is better to plan your food and make a reminder at each mealtime to ensure you’re eating systematically. Furthermore, having a regular food plan is significant for improving appetite, contributing to you eating enough calories and nutrients daily. It is one of the best ways to increase appetite.
7. Don’t overlook breakfast
Eating breakfast on a regular basis is essential when you tend to improve your appetite and put on weight. Research indicated that overlooking breakfast can result in eating less during the day, which is not what you want. In addition, breakfast is useful to improve the body’s thermogenesis impact which increases calorie burning and leads to improving your appetite.
8. Lower eating high-fiber foods
It has been proven that high-fiber diets trigger feelings of fullness and reduce calorie intake for those trying to lose weight. Although high-fiber foods are suggested in a balanced diet, they can decelerate digestion and increase the feeling of fullness for longer. Hence, you may tend to lessen your intake if you want to improve your appetite.
9. Use drinks instead of foods
It is much more stimulating to absorb your needed calories by drinking rather than eating. A recommendable method to drink your calories is by substituting some of your foods with nourishing, high-calorie drinks.
10. Add healthy snacks
Consuming big foods can be horrifying, while small and delicious snacks can be more easy and effortless to improve your food intake. Snacks can also be useful while you are very busy. Still, snacks must not take the place of your main meals, but rather complete them. So refrain from eating snacks close to mealtime, since it could impact your appetite.
11. Include your favorite foods
This is one of the best and easiest strategies — select meals you like. When you decide to eat a meal you know you will like, you’re more likely willing to serve it than a dish you find unenjoyable. To make sure you eat more of those meals, it is significant you take some time to schedule and cook them earlier so you can always have them on hand.
12. Include herbs and spices
Some meals can prolong digestion and make gas, which can lead to a heavy stomach feeling and decrease your appetite. A kind of seasoning which is known as carminative herbs and spices can help decrease bloating and increase your appetite. They can also trigger the secretion of bile to make fat digestion easy.
13. Do more exercise
During exercise, the body uses a calorie-burning strategy to maintain its energy levels. Exercise can improve your appetite to regain the calories burned.
14. Decrease beverages with foods
Drinking beverages before or during your food could impact your appetite. In fact, studies have proven that drinking water before meals can decrease calorie intake and lead to weight loss. This sounds to impact older adults more than younger ones.
15. Some supplements can be also helpful
A shortage of specific vitamins and minerals could decrease your appetite. If you want to improve your appetite, think about adding some of these supplements to your diet:
Zinc: Zinc is a very important supplement and its lack in the diet can result in a lack of appetite and taste disruptions that could cause a low desire to consume.
Thiamine: A thiamine shortage could lead to poor appetite and high resting energy consumption, which causes weight loss.
Fish oil: Some research has proven that this supplement may improve appetite and decrease feelings of fullness in women after food.
