How do researchers define food noise?
The phrase spread from patients and social media before researchers picked it up. In 2024 a group of researchers convened an expert panel at the American Society for Nutrition meeting, and in 2025 published a formal definition in Nutrition & Diabetes: food noise is persistent thoughts about food that the person perceives as unwanted and/or distressing, and that may cause harm — social, mental or physical.[1]
An earlier narrative review (Hayashi and colleagues, 2023) linked the idea to food cue reactivity: the way external cues such as seeing or smelling food, and internal ones such as hunger, mood or stress, trigger thoughts and urges to eat.[2]
Is food noise the same as hunger?
No. The 2025 paper separates food noise from routine thoughts about food by its intensity and intrusiveness, and compares it to rumination.[1] Hunger is a body signal that eating answers; food noise, as defined, is thinking about food that keeps going and that the person does not want. On a GLP-1 medicine, the two can change at different speeds — which is why noting them separately helps.
The authors describe early work on a questionnaire and list open questions, including how GLP-1 medicines affect food noise.[1] Until measures are validated, be careful with any product that claims to “measure” your food noise.
What do the labels say about appetite?
The Wegovy® label says semaglutide decreases calorie intake and that the effect is likely mediated by appetite; the labels also note slower stomach emptying.[3][4] They do not use the term food noise.
A quieter appetite can also mean eating too little protein or too few fluids. The 2025 joint nutrition advisory for GLP-1 therapy (ACLM, ASN, OMA, TOS) lists adequate protein, nutrient-dense food and hydration among its priorities.[5]
What does PepLabo not do?
PepLabo is a log. It does not diagnose, measure hormones or body composition, suggest a dose or tell you when to change one.
There is no food-noise slider or score. You note what you notice; the timeline shows it next to your doses.
Wegovy® and Ozempic® are registered trademarks of Novo Nordisk A/S; Zepbound® and Mounjaro® are registered trademarks of Eli Lilly and Company. They are named only to identify the medicines and their labels. PepLabo has no affiliation with these companies.
When to get help
| Sign | Who to contact | How fast | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| You can barely eat or drink, or vomiting will not stop | Your prescriber | Today | Wegovy® Medication Guide[3] |
