A fillet steak with dark sauce on celeriac purée, beside rosemary and carrot, on a dark plate with rising steam

DESCRIPTION: Food Noise in ADHD: What the term means and how it differs from hunger.

Food Noise and ADHD: How a buzzword became a symptom

If you type ‘Food Noise ADHD’ into Google, you’ll find answers describing a condition: a constant internal dialogue in your head about food that you can’t switch off. In just a few years, the term has made its way from patient forums into newspaper articles, self-help guides and questionnaires. This text explores what the term means in research, where it comes from, and what is lost when desire is treated as background noise.

A term from the stories of insulin-injection patients

The term had long been in use within the neurodivergent community, but it took social media by storm with the advent of GLP-1 receptor agonists. People who injected semaglutide or related active substances for weight loss reported that something had fallen silent: the constant thinking about the next meal, the internal deliberation over whether to have a slice of cake, the planning of snacks: ‘food noise’. The media picked up on the narrative, and the word spread rapidly.

The scientific literature followed suit. In 2023, Daisuke Hayashi and colleagues published the paper ‘What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity’ in the journal *Nutrients*. They note that the term originated from patient reports and had scarcely been systematically investigated until then. Their working definition: food noise is an intensified or persistent form of reactivity to food cues, which frequently leads to intrusive thoughts about food and unhealthy eating behaviour. The model is called CIRO: cues trigger a reaction that is shaped by influencing factors and results in outcomes such as overeating. Permanent influences include genetics, preferences, body weight and emotional regulation, whilst variable influences include time of day, stress, sleep and hormones, including GLP-1.

It is now possible to measure this experience. In 2025, Hanim Diktas and colleagues from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre presented the Food Noise Questionnaire (FNQ) in the journal *Obesity*; this consists of five items, validated on 396 adults. It defines ‘food noise’ as persistent, intrusive thoughts about food that disrupt daily life and hinder healthy behaviour. A second instrument, the RAID-FN, followed. Both were developed with the involvement of commercial providers of weight-management programmes (WW International for the FNQ, Ro for the RAID-FN). The approach is noteworthy: the measurement focuses on what the definition specifies, namely frequency, intrusiveness and psychological distress. No scale captures the content of the thoughts. The measurement turns the word into a ‘construct’. It does not answer the question of what the thoughts are about.

Food Noise and Hunger: the difference

Hunger signals an energy requirement and ends with satiety after eating. According to the working definition, food noise describes a reactivity to food stimuli that continues even when one is full. Triggers include the smell from the bakery, adverts, the time of day, or an argument. The thoughts therefore say more about one’s relationship with stimuli than merely about the stomach. Anyone who equates it with hunger seeks the solution in feeling full, and that rarely helps.

Why it spread so quickly

People with ADHD experience intrusive thoughts, impulsivity and difficulties regulating reward. The link to ‘food noise’ was obvious. Added to this is a body of evidence that is worth noting: a meta-analysis by Nazar and colleagues (International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2016) found a significantly increased risk of eating disorders in people with ADHD. The odds ratio was 3.82 for eating disorders overall and 4.13 for binge-eating disorder, based on an analysis of twelve studies involving 4,013 people with ADHD and 29,404 controls. The association was stronger when assessed via diagnostic interviews than via questionnaires.

However, this figure pertains to eating disorders, not ‘food noise’. The prevalence of binge eating in ADHD suggests that some of those affected use food as a means of self-regulation. Research findings on the experience of ‘food noise’ in ADHD are still lacking: the validation studies on the FNQ and RAID-FN originate from obesity research, not from ADHD research.

In any case, the dopamine hypothesis of ADHD links impulsivity to an altered reward system. This suggests that eating, as a rapid reward stimulus, increases dopamine levels. (The effectiveness of a dopamine ‘snack’ is well known.) The hypothesis is plausible , but remains just that until food noise in ADHD has been measured using a specific instrument and compared with people without ADHD.

Some people with ADHD report eating very little, others constantly, and sometimes alternating between the two in phases. There are several mechanisms at play here: stimulants suppress the appetite and delay mealtimes; the perception of hunger and satiety is impaired in those with attention problems; and eating serves to regulate dopamine and emotions. As mentioned, the link with binge eating and binge-eating disorder is clearly established.

The pharmaceutical industry’s perspective

The talk of ‘muted food noise’ fits in with a narrative that sells well: the desire to eat is merely a ‘signal’ that can ultimately be suppressed. Take the injection, lose weight and find peace of mind. Users’ accounts must be taken very seriously, as they describe genuine relief. The narrative goes further than that. It turns thoughts of food into background noise – in other words, something devoid of content that one can switch off without losing anything.

From a psychoanalytical perspective, this leaves questions unanswered. Thoughts of food are rarely empty. They encapsulate desires for comfort, reward, belonging and control, and are linked to specific scenes: the kitchen of one’s childhood, prohibitions, rationing, and hunger as a lack of something else. The word ‘noise’ devalues these scenes. It treats the desire as a disruption of the norm.

It is a pharmacological fact that desire can be dampened by an active ingredient. This does not detract from its significance. A medicine that reduces desire says nothing about the object of that desire. In *An Outline of a Psychology*, Freud described desire as a striving to restore an initial experience of satisfaction, and that experience is being fed. Food is an early and enduring setting for this. Anyone who labels the thought of it as ‘noise’ speaks of a desire as if it were a technical problem.

Pleasure and Prohibition

The present day turns pleasure into a duty whilst simultaneously demanding self-denial as a virtue. ‘Food noise’ is part of this contradictory demand. The image of the disciplined body demands that one should not be constantly thinking about food. The image of the consumer demands that one be constantly stimulated. Anyone who has internalised both hears constantly something that is at once forbidden and desirable. The word ‘noise’ masks this tension by attributing it to the individual as a disturbance.

Lacan distinguishes between need, claim and desire. Need is directed towards an object, such as food. A claim is directed at another person and demands love. Desire remains as a residue that no object can fulfil. Food can serve all three levels. An injection or stimulants that suppress hunger act upon the need. Whether the ‘noise’ disappears depends on how much of it pertains to the claim and to desire. Reports of a lost joy in eating, as they circulate in forums and the press, can be interpreted as follows: the silencing affects more than just the need.

Can food noise be stopped?

Patients report that GLP-1 receptor agonists dampen food noise. This fits with Hayashi’s model, which lists GLP-1 amongst the varying influences. It explains why the injection works, whilst leaving open the question of where food noise goes when treatment is stopped. Without medication, measures addressing stimuli and triggers can help. Regular meals reduce periods of intense hunger, which intensify thoughts of food. A log recording when food noise becomes loud often reveals patterns: in the evenings, after conflicts, or when bored. The pattern points to situations where food replaces comfort, reward or reassurance.

When to seek help

It is advisable to seek help if thoughts of food dominate daily life, if binge eating is accompanied by a loss of control and feelings of shame, if vomiting, fasting or significant weight fluctuations occur, or if psychological distress sets in. In such cases, it is appropriate to seek a diagnosis for eating disorders, which include binge-eating disorder, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. If ADHD is diagnosed, eating behaviour should be addressed as part of the treatment.

Key points at a glance

• ‘Food Noise’ is a term derived from reports by patients with eating disorders and is not a diagnosis.

• Hayashi and colleagues presented a model (CIRO) in 2023. The Food Noise Questionnaire has been measuring frequency and psychological distress since 2025. No scale captures the content of these thoughts.

• Food Noise is reactivity to food stimuli and continues even after satiety. Hunger signals an energy requirement.

• There is evidence of an increased risk of eating disorders in ADHD (odds ratio 3.82).

• According to patient reports, GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce Food Noise. This says nothing about what the cravings signified.

• Thoughts about food encapsulate desires for comfort, reward, belonging and control.

• Seeking help is advisable in cases of binge eating accompanied by a loss of control, vomiting, fasting or psychological distress.

Sources and further reading

· Hayashi, D. et al. (2023): What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity. Nutrients 15(22), 4809. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15224809

· Diktas, H. E. et al. (2025): Development and validation of the Food Noise Questionnaire. Obesity 33(2), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.24216

· Dhurandhar, E. J. et al.: Development and rigorous multistep validation of a psychometric tool to measure food noise. Appetite 217, 108339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108339

· Nazar, B. P. et al. (2016): The risk of eating disorders comorbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders 49(12), 1045–1057. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22643

· Freud, S. (1895): An Outline of a Psychology.

· Lacan, J. (1958): The Meaning of the Phallus.

Food Noise and ADHD: How a buzzword became a symptom

If you type ‘Food Noise ADHD’ into Google, you’ll find answers describing a condition: a constant internal dialogue in your head about food that you can’t switch off. In just a few years, the term has made its way from patient forums into newspaper articles, self-help guides and questionnaires. This text explores what the term means in research, where it comes from, and what is lost when desire is treated as background noise.

A term from the stories of insulin-injection patients

The term had long been in use within the neurodivergent community, but it took social media by storm with the advent of GLP-1 receptor agonists. People who injected semaglutide or related active substances for weight loss reported that something had fallen silent: the constant thinking about the next meal, the internal deliberation over whether to have a slice of cake, the planning of snacks: ‘food noise’. The media picked up on the narrative, and the word spread rapidly.

The scientific literature followed suit. In 2023, Daisuke Hayashi and colleagues published the paper ‘What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity’ in the journal *Nutrients*. They note that the term originated from patient reports and had scarcely been systematically investigated until then. Their working definition: food noise is an intensified or persistent form of reactivity to food cues, which frequently leads to intrusive thoughts about food and unhealthy eating behaviour. The model is called CIRO: cues trigger a reaction that is shaped by influencing factors and results in outcomes such as overeating. Permanent influences include genetics, preferences, body weight and emotional regulation, whilst variable influences include time of day, stress, sleep and hormones, including GLP-1.

It is now possible to measure this experience. In 2025, Hanim Diktas and colleagues from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre presented the Food Noise Questionnaire (FNQ) in the journal *Obesity*; this consists of five items, validated on 396 adults. It defines ‘food noise’ as persistent, intrusive thoughts about food that disrupt daily life and hinder healthy behaviour. A second instrument, the RAID-FN, followed. Both were developed with the involvement of commercial providers of weight-management programmes (WW International for the FNQ, Ro for the RAID-FN). The approach is noteworthy: the measurement focuses on what the definition specifies, namely frequency, intrusiveness and psychological distress. No scale captures the content of the thoughts. The measurement turns the word into a ‘construct’. It does not answer the question of what the thoughts are about.

Food Noise and Hunger: the difference

Hunger signals an energy requirement and ends with satiety after eating. According to the working definition, food noise describes a reactivity to food stimuli that continues even when one is full. Triggers include the smell from the bakery, adverts, the time of day, or an argument. The thoughts therefore say more about one’s relationship with stimuli than merely about the stomach. Anyone who equates it with hunger seeks the solution in feeling full, and that rarely helps.

Why it spread so quickly

People with ADHD experience intrusive thoughts, impulsivity and difficulties regulating reward. The link to ‘food noise’ was obvious. Added to this is a body of evidence that is worth noting: a meta-analysis by Nazar and colleagues (International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2016) found a significantly increased risk of eating disorders in people with ADHD. The odds ratio was 3.82 for eating disorders overall and 4.13 for binge-eating disorder, based on an analysis of twelve studies involving 4,013 people with ADHD and 29,404 controls. The association was stronger when assessed via diagnostic interviews than via questionnaires.

However, this figure pertains to eating disorders, not ‘food noise’. The prevalence of binge eating in ADHD suggests that some of those affected use food as a means of self-regulation. Research findings on the experience of ‘food noise’ in ADHD are still lacking: the validation studies on the FNQ and RAID-FN originate from obesity research, not from ADHD research.

In any case, the dopamine hypothesis of ADHD links impulsivity to an altered reward system. This suggests that eating, as a rapid reward stimulus, increases dopamine levels. (The effectiveness of a dopamine ‘snack’ is well known.) The hypothesis is plausible , but remains just that until food noise in ADHD has been measured using a specific instrument and compared with people without ADHD.

Some people with ADHD report eating very little, others constantly, and sometimes alternating between the two in phases. There are several mechanisms at play here: stimulants suppress the appetite and delay mealtimes; the perception of hunger and satiety is impaired in those with attention problems; and eating serves to regulate dopamine and emotions. As mentioned, the link with binge eating and binge-eating disorder is clearly established.

The pharmaceutical industry’s perspective

The talk of ‘muted food noise’ fits in with a narrative that sells well: the desire to eat is merely a ‘signal’ that can ultimately be suppressed. Take the injection, lose weight and find peace of mind. Users’ accounts must be taken very seriously, as they describe genuine relief. The narrative goes further than that. It turns thoughts of food into background noise – in other words, something devoid of content that one can switch off without losing anything.

From a psychoanalytical perspective, this leaves questions unanswered. Thoughts of food are rarely empty. They encapsulate desires for comfort, reward, belonging and control, and are linked to specific scenes: the kitchen of one’s childhood, prohibitions, rationing, and hunger as a lack of something else. The word ‘noise’ devalues these scenes. It treats the desire as a disruption of the norm.

It is a pharmacological fact that desire can be dampened by an active ingredient. This does not detract from its significance. A medicine that reduces desire says nothing about the object of that desire. In *An Outline of a Psychology*, Freud described desire as a striving to restore an initial experience of satisfaction, and that experience is being fed. Food is an early and enduring setting for this. Anyone who labels the thought of it as ‘noise’ speaks of a desire as if it were a technical problem.

Pleasure and Prohibition

The present day turns pleasure into a duty whilst simultaneously demanding self-denial as a virtue. ‘Food noise’ is part of this contradictory demand. The image of the disciplined body demands that one should not be constantly thinking about food. The image of the consumer demands that one be constantly stimulated. Anyone who has internalised both hears constantly something that is at once forbidden and desirable. The word ‘noise’ masks this tension by attributing it to the individual as a disturbance.

Lacan distinguishes between need, claim and desire. Need is directed towards an object, such as food. A claim is directed at another person and demands love. Desire remains as a residue that no object can fulfil. Food can serve all three levels. An injection or stimulants that suppress hunger act upon the need. Whether the ‘noise’ disappears depends on how much of it pertains to the claim and to desire. Reports of a lost joy in eating, as they circulate in forums and the press, can be interpreted as follows: the silencing affects more than just the need.

Can food noise be stopped?

Patients report that GLP-1 receptor agonists dampen food noise. This fits with Hayashi’s model, which lists GLP-1 amongst the varying influences. It explains why the injection works, whilst leaving open the question of where food noise goes when treatment is stopped. Without medication, measures addressing stimuli and triggers can help. Regular meals reduce periods of intense hunger, which intensify thoughts of food. A log recording when food noise becomes loud often reveals patterns: in the evenings, after conflicts, or when bored. The pattern points to situations where food replaces comfort, reward or reassurance.

When to seek help

It is advisable to seek help if thoughts of food dominate daily life, if binge eating is accompanied by a loss of control and feelings of shame, if vomiting, fasting or significant weight fluctuations occur, or if psychological distress sets in. In such cases, it is appropriate to seek a diagnosis for eating disorders, which include binge-eating disorder, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. If ADHD is diagnosed, eating behaviour should be addressed as part of the treatment.

Key points at a glance

• ‘Food Noise’ is a term derived from reports by patients with eating disorders and is not a diagnosis.

• Hayashi and colleagues presented a model (CIRO) in 2023. The Food Noise Questionnaire has been measuring frequency and psychological distress since 2025. No scale captures the content of these thoughts.

• Food Noise is reactivity to food stimuli and continues even after satiety. Hunger signals an energy requirement.

• There is evidence of an increased risk of eating disorders in ADHD (odds ratio 3.82).

• According to patient reports, GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce Food Noise. This says nothing about what the cravings signified.

• Thoughts about food encapsulate desires for comfort, reward, belonging and control.

• Seeking help is advisable in cases of binge eating accompanied by a loss of control, vomiting, fasting or psychological distress.

Sources and further reading

· Hayashi, D. et al. (2023): What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity. Nutrients 15(22), 4809. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15224809

· Diktas, H. E. et al. (2025): Development and validation of the Food Noise Questionnaire. Obesity 33(2), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.24216

· Dhurandhar, E. J. et al.: Development and rigorous multistep validation of a psychometric tool to measure food noise. Appetite 217, 108339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108339

· Nazar, B. P. et al. (2016): The risk of eating disorders comorbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders 49(12), 1045–1057. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22643

· Freud, S. (1895): An Outline of a Psychology.

· Lacan, J. (1958): The Meaning of the Phallus.

Food Noise in ADHD: What the term tells us

Food Noise in ADHD: What the term tells us

Food Noise and ADHD: How a buzzword became a symptom

A term from the stories of insulin-injection patients

Food Noise and Hunger: the difference

Why it spread so quickly

The pharmaceutical industry’s perspective

Pleasure and Prohibition

Can food noise be stopped?

When to seek help

Key points at a glance

Sources and further reading

Food Noise and ADHD: How a buzzword became a symptom

A term from the stories of insulin-injection patients

Food Noise and Hunger: the difference

Why it spread so quickly

The pharmaceutical industry’s perspective

Pleasure and Prohibition

Can food noise be stopped?

When to seek help

Key points at a glance

Sources and further reading

Newsletter

Newsletter

Anfahrt & Öffnungszeiten

Anfahrt & Öffnungszeiten

Anfahrt & Öffnungszeiten