06/09/2026
Necessary food noise is like “wee noise”. It’s needed to let us know when it’s time to eat. It includes thinking about food and physical sensations of hunger.
Physical sensations of hunger can anything from thinking about food, a gentle stomach stirring, a stronger tummy rumbling, fatigue, brain fogginess, nausea and mood changes where you’re more likely to feel irritated or stressed (aka getting hangry).
We don’t tend to ignore wee noise as that would be uncomfortable and embarrassing. But it seems our culture encourages us to ignore necessary food noise in the name of “health” (or more precisely weight loss).
When we ignore the necessary food noise, that’s when the “unwanted” or what feels like intrusive food noise starts to appear and the more we ignore it and don’t respond to hunger, the louder and more constant it gets. Unwanted food noise can feel like a preoccupation or obsession/addiction with food. It can be exhausting and result in what feels like over-eating, binge eating or a loss of control around food. You need to respond to necessary food noise to avoid unwanted food noise.
Often by the time people come to see us, they are so “good” at ignoring their hunger, they don’t even know they are doing it. It’s amazing how quickly the “unwanted food noise” can settle down once people are eating enough.
One of the key things people love about the GLP-1s weight loss medications is how they seem to block the unwanted food noise. The problem is when they also block the necessary food noise. Without necessary food noise you can forget to eat, lose motivation to eat, lose joy in food and many people are simply not eating enough food to sustain health long-term.

It is possible to reduce/get rid of unwanted food noise without a GLP-1? Short answer is absolutely YES! This is what non-diet dietitians have been helping people with long before these meds came along.
Zoe & Kerrie - NonDiet dietitians and food lovers!
