She’s sitting across the table, scrolling through questions saved in her phone, notes she’s collected over weeks, maybe months.
- Is intermittent fasting a good idea for me?
- Should I aim for 40 grams of protein in the morning?
- I mix potato starch, collagen, greens powder, protein powder, and spinach, should I add anything else?
This could be any number of highly intelligent, curious, health-conscious women we work with at McDaniel Nutrition Therapy. They’re thoughtful, motivated, and genuinely trying to care for their health, while navigating an overwhelming amount of nutrition information available from podcasts, social media or her girlfriends. And because it’s out there, it can quietly feel like pressure, the sense that if you’re not keeping up with every new study, supplement, or strategy, you’re somehow falling behind.
All of this is what can create what’s often called food noise.
What Is Food Noise?
Food noise refers to persistent, intrusive thoughts about food that interfere with daily life, appetite regulation, and overall well-being.
It’s not new, but with the emergence of GLP-1 and common testimonies that these medications stop food noise, we have seen it trickle into more of our conversations with clients.
Food noise can develop over time through dieting culture, fear-based health messaging, life transitions, new diagnoses, or years of “eat this, not that” rules. For many women, especially during perimenopause, these messages feel even louder as the body changes.
When Does Food Noise Show Up?
Food noise often becomes more noticeable during times of uncertainty:
- A new health diagnosis (high cholesterol, blood sugar concerns, bone health)
- Body changes that feel unfamiliar
- Conflicting nutrition advice
- Pressure to optimize every meal or macro
We’ll often ask our clients if they can feel the difference between practical eating decisions and food noise.
For example, planning meals for the week might feel practical and useful. You use your brain to do it, and then it’s over.
Eating a protein bar for a snack and then worrying about whether it had too many grams of added sugars, the right type of sugar substitutes or if you should have chosen a different option might be sensed different in the body..and feel like an invisible pressure related to getting something right.
Why Fear Makes the Noise Louder
Research consistently shows that when food becomes tied to fear, perfectionism, or pressure, mental chatter increases.
This can happen after alarming health messages, even when those messages aren’t accurate or helpful. It can also happen through something seemingly innocent as “What I Eat in a Day” IG posts that subtly suggest you should be doing the same.
Over time, the brain may learn to stay on high alert around food.
Working With Food Noise (Instead of Fighting It)
A powerful first step is recognizing this simple truth: We are not your thoughts.
Thoughts are mental events. They show up, often repeat themselves, feel like they’re there to protect you, BUT often overdo their job.
When we learn to notice thoughts, rather than obey or engage with them, food noise settles down with time. At McDaniel Nutrition Therapy, we focus on changing the relationship with food thoughts, not eliminating them. And when we focus on nourishment, eating enough, finding foods that are emotionally pleasing – you’d be amazed at how quickly food noise decreases.
The World We’re In
While medications have brought renewed attention to food noise, they are only one tool, and not the only path to peace with food. A settled mind can be found with nourishment, planning with physical and emotional pleasure, and learning to see thoughts as thoughts – not truth. And this framework creates space for a more trusting relationship with food and self.