What Are Natural Ways to Make Myself Hungrier?

Increasing your appetite naturally to gain weight involves eating foods that stimulate your metabolism, taking supplements and exercising. A decrease in appetite can be caused by many things, including a medical condition, depression, digestive problems and side effects of medical treatments, such as cancer radiation. Eating a balanced diet when you do eat can help you maintain your health and weight.

Foods

• The most natural way to increase your appetite is by eating foods that boost your metabolism and stimulate your appetite when you do eat. There are many spices that help make you hungrier and can be added to many dishes, including cinnamon, ginger, peppermint and anise. Fruits and vegetables with large amounts of vitamins A, C and E can help treat a decreased appetite caused by poor digestion, as these vitamins promote digestion. Drinking a glass of juice before meal times also helps stimulate your appetite by giving your insulin a boost.

Supplements

• There are a variety of nutritional supplements that help increase appetite. Most of these supplements focus on boosting your metabolism, which will make you feel hungrier throughout the day. Herbal supplements with green tea and ginseng are the most common supplement for boosting your metabolism and increasing energy. Folic acid and zinc are two common mineral supplements that help stimulate your appetite by increasing your senses of taste and smell, allowing food to be more enjoyable. Avoid supplements with fiber, as fiber can make you feel fuller faster and actually decrease your appetite.

Exercise

• Exercise is the best way to stimulate your metabolism and increase your hunger. While vigorous aerobic exercise stimulates hormones that actually suppress your appetite, moderate to light aerobic exercise and strength training can actually help stimulate your appetite. Walking, lifting weights and swimming are all exercises that boost your metabolism without stimulating the hormones that decrease your appetite. If your decrease in appetite is caused by depression, moderate physical activity also stimulates chemicals in the brain that help alleviate symptoms of depression, which may also help make you hungrier.

Considerations

• A decrease in appetite is caused by many things, and the best treatment for a decreased appetite depends on its cause. A decreased appetite due to depression, illness or medical condition should be treated with diet, exercise, supplements, as well as medication or therapy. Making yourself hungrier will not happen overnight. Herbal supplements can take several weeks to build up in your system and affect your appetite, and consistent diet and exercise can make you hungrier over the long term. Try eating slightly more food at each sitting, allowing your stomach to stretch and increasing your appetite.