Can Anxiety Cause Loss of Appetite?

Anxiety disorders — characterized by uneasiness, worry, and fear — can cause various symptoms that affect how you think and behave. This can include changes in appetite (aka your body’s internal desire to eat).

Whether you have a diagnosed disorder like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or panic disorder, anxiety can disrupt your thoughts about food and interfere with daily eating habits.

Some people find comfort in food when they’re anxious, while others experience a partial or complete loss of appetite. Regardless, maintaining a healthy diet is crucial for providing your body with the necessary energy, especially during anxious times.

Ahead, we’ll answer questions like “Can stress affect appetite?” and explore how mental health conditions like anxiety and depression impact appetite, eating habits, and body weight.

We’ll also offer tips on managing appetite loss due to anxiety and sustaining good eating habits even when you’re feeling too anxious to eat.

We wish there were a more definitive answer, but how your mental health relates to your hunger cues varies from person to person and stressor to stressor. That said, some notice physical symptoms of anxiety, such as changes in appetite.

Research shows mixed findings when it comes to stress and eating habits. Specifically, 40 percent of people eat more when stressed, 40 percent eat less, and 20 don't report a change. Researchers suggest that acute stress (a reaction to a specific event) can lead to decreased eating, whereas chronic stress can increase eating.

While studies suggest stress and anxiety can impact appetite over time, unintentional weight loss is uncommon.

Still, you’ll want to be mindful if your anxiety causes significant appetite changes. If your loss of interest in food or total loss of appetite lasts for more than a few days, you should reach out to a healthcare provider. Short-term appetite shifts aren’t uncommon, but an enduring loss of interest in food warrants medical attention.

It’s worth noting that anxiety may also be associated with eating disorders like stress-induced anorexia. Some studies suggest that more than 65 percent of people with eating disorders also have at least one anxiety disorder, and that their anxiety disorders typically predate these changes in eating habits.

How Does Anxiety Impact Appetite?

When you’re anxious, you might feel so overwhelmed by feelings of uneasiness that eating just doesn’t feel important to you. You also might be too distracted by your worries to think about eating. It’s also normal to avoid certain everyday activities when you feel anxious, which can affect your diet and eating habits.

Some other symptoms of anxiety include:

• Feeling like you’re on edge, agitated, and restless

• Difficulty focusing and a feeling that your mind is going blank

• Excessive, difficult-to-control feelings of worry

• Feeling fatigued and tired easily and often

• Physical discomfort, stomach aches, and increased heart rate

• Irritability

• Panic attacks

Any of these symptoms can change the way some people think about food and how hungry they feel.

In general, high anxiety is also associated with digestive system issues. Other gastrointestinal symptoms of anxiety, for example, are nausea and constipation.

All things considered, the dynamic between stress and hunger cues can be complex. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Stress Hormones and Appetite

Experts are still not entirely clear about why stress or anxiety can cause appetite changes. But research suggests that fluctuations in stress hormones, which play a role in appetite regulation, are partly responsible.

Specifically, epinephrine (adrenaline) and noradrenaline — hormones involved in focus, blood pressure, and metabolic processes — can increase during acute stress, suppressing appetite.

This response triggers the body's fight-or-flight mode, where appetite diminishes because your body prioritizes sending blood to the muscles rather than the digestive system in order to respond to a perceived threat or immediate survival needs.

On the other hand, cortisol, another stress hormone, has been linked with increased appetite, adding complexity to the relationship between stress, anxiety, and eating habits.

One comprehensive review highlights this, too, emphasizing a need for further research.

Sudden and major changes in your appetite, eating habits, and weight can also be symptoms of depression — a common mood disorder that shares many similar symptoms with anxiety. Some other symptoms of depression include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, or emptiness

• Irritability, frustration, and restlessness

• Fatigue and lack of energy

• Losing interest or not finding pleasure in activities you usually like

• Sleep disturbances

It’s also normal to experience periods in which you have a decreased appetite, even if you don’t suffer from a mental health condition. For example, feelings like sadness and grief may reduce your interest in eating, especially when they’re severe.

Beyond anxiety, depression, and grief, a range of different psychological and medical conditions could affect your appetite and eating habits, including:

• Chronic liver disease

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

• Chronic kidney disease

• Stomach cancer

• Ovarian cancer

• Colon cancer

• Pancreatic cancer

• Heart failure

• Dementia

• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)

• Hepatitis

• HIV

Some medications may also cause a diminished appetite, including antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, and opioid pain medications such as codeine and morphine.

Although pregnancy typically increases appetite and causes weight gain, many people experience a poor appetite during the first trimester.

Like with stress or anxiety-induced changes in your appetite, it’s important to reach out to your healthcare provider if you suddenly stop eating due to any of the reasons listed above.

Drastically cutting down your food intake doesn’t just lead to weight loss — it can also cause potentially serious health issues.

If anxiety causes you to stop eating or consume minimal amounts of food suddenly, you risk malnutrition — a condition that can develop when your body doesn’t get sufficient nutrients.

If stress or anxiety leads to a lack of appetite, changing your habits and lifestyle can improve your mood and restore normal eating patterns.

Use the techniques below to manage anxiety, restore your appetite, and ensure adequate nutrition.

1. Be Mindful of Eating Habits

While it’s okay to occasionally eat less than normal, consistently consuming fewer calories than your basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy your body needs to carry out basic functions) can lead to significant weight loss over the long term.

To be more mindful about your eating habits, try some of the following techniques:

• Stick to simple, high-protein, and easy-to-enjoy foods. Sometimes the best way to prevent undereating is to stick to simple, tasty foods you know you enjoy. Opt for smoothies or your comfort foods. If you simply aren’t finding comfort in anything, choose high-fiber and high-protein foods that will keep you energized.

• Make things easier by meal prepping. If you’re preparing food at home, try cooking in bulk so that you can store food to reheat easily and eat later. Or, when dining out, order extra food to take home for easy consumption at your next meal.

• Create an eating schedule. Setting a breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule reminds you that it’s time to eat and may help motivate you to take action and prepare a meal, even when you don’t feel hungry. Consider setting an alarm on your phone to remind yourself exactly when to eat, especially if you usually skip meals when you’re anxious.

• Replace a few big meals with several small ones. When you have a decreased appetite, a full plate might be intimidating, and finishing a large meal might seem impossible. One way to meet your daily caloric needs when you don’t feel like eating is to eat multiple small meals throughout the day. Try setting aside healthy foods that are high in calories to snack on during the daytime, including in between your regular meals.

2. Take Steps to Relieve Your Stress

Stress management is essential for long-term well-being. If you’re stressed about a certain event, it may help to try some simple techniques to relieve your stress and lessen anxiety.

Sometimes, practicing a few basic self-care techniques is all that’s required to clear your mind and get rid of anxious thoughts.

Sign up for a yoga class, practice deep breathing, try meditation, or do progressive muscle relaxation techniques. Even a walk in the park can be calming.

Our guide to calming down anxiety shares evidence-based techniques that you can use to deal with anxiety whenever it starts to interfere with your daily life.

3. Look Into Talk Therapy

If your anxiety is more persistent and all-consuming, it might be time to seek professional help via psychotherapy.

You can get help for anxiety by asking your primary care provider for a mental health referral or by contacting a mental health professional in your area (or online). Some types of talk therapy for anxiety include:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) helps people identify unhealthy thought patterns that fuel harmful behaviors and ways to change them. The goal is to teach people coping skills to better manage their symptoms. CBT can effectively treat anxiety disorders.

• Psychodynamic therapy helps people uncover the underlying issues and memories driving present-day anxieties, as well as negative behaviors and emotions.

• Interpersonal therapy (ITP) is specifically designed to address mood disorders and improve relationships. Some research suggests that IPT effectively treats depression, though studies are more mixed for anxiety.

4. Consider Medication

The techniques above may help you maintain normal eating habits when you’re feeling a little stressed or anxious. However, if you have severe or persistent anxiety that’s starting to interfere with your ability to eat, it’s important to seek professional help.

Medications, like antidepressants, might be an option. They’re often used in combination with other treatments, like therapy.

There are many anti-anxiety medications available on the market, including antidepressants, and they all work slightly differently. They generally work by targeting neurotransmitters in your brain — like serotonin — to improve your mood.

Some antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications include:

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs are some of the most common types of antidepressants prescribed to treat depression and some anxiety disorders. They work by increasing the activity of serotonin in the brain. Examples include escitalopram (Lexapro®), paroxetine (Paxil®), and sertraline (Zoloft®).

• Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Similar to SSRIs, SNRIs target norepinephrine — a stress chemical in the body — and serotonin. Common SNRIs include venlafaxine (Effexor®) and duloxetine (Cymbalta®).

• Beta-blockers. Beta-blockers, like propranolol, prevent stress hormones from triggering your body’s fight-or-flight response, so your heart rate doesn’t speed up during stressful events. They can work well in certain high-anxiety situations.

If you’re looking for support around antidepressant or anti-anxiety medications, you can schedule an online consultation with a healthcare professional to talk about your options.

Anxiety can be a helpful emotion in certain situations, but it can also lead to symptoms that create a negative impact on your life, including changes in appetite. Here’s what to keep in mind about anxiety and appetite changes:

• Research suggests that the impact of stress on eating habits is mixed, with some people being unaffected, some eating more when they’re anxious, and others eating less. Though not entirely certain, researchers believe that changes in appetite due to anxiety may result from alterations in stress hormones.

• Other mental health conditions, medications, and underlying medical issues can cause weight loss and changes in appetite. If you’ve noticed significant weight loss lately, it’s best to seek medical advice.

• If you notice changes in your weight or your appetite and your healthcare provider believes it’s due to anxiety or stress, consider making some lifestyle adjustments. You can try things like eating healthy comfort foods, setting reminders, and getting adequate sleep to manage weight safely.

• If your feelings of stress and anxiety are severe, reach out for professional help. Anxiety is treatable, and you have options, from CBT talk therapy to medications that can manage your symptoms.

The good news is that stress and anxiety disorders are almost always treatable.

You can learn more about your options for relieving anxiety and gaining more control over your thoughts and feelings in our guide to treatments for anxiety disorders, or by scheduling a consultation with a healthcare professional.