Every time winter rolls around, I notice a distinct change in my appetite: namely, that it increases. Not only that, but the type of food I crave also changes—from the light salads and refreshing juices of spring and summer to heartier, more carb-heavy meals: stews, casseroles, soups, you name it.
Which had me wondering: Why? From speaking to friends and family who say they experience a similar shift, I know I’m not alone in this, either. So I decided to reach out to experts to find out why we see such a sea change in our eating habits in the bleak stretch between fall and spring—and if it’s anything to be concerned about health-wise.
Why feeling hungrier in winter is so common
“We definitely see this trend of people having more appetite or going for heavier foods when things are colder,” Thanh Thanh Nguyen, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian at Mendinground Nutrition, tells SELF. Think creamy dishes or those heavy on dense, starchy vegetables, like mac and cheese or mashed potatoes. It’s even culturally ingrained to some extent, hence the “soup season” moniker. Put simply, “feeling hungrier during winter is normal,” Kathleen Moore, RDN, LD, a staff dietitian at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.
Thermogenesis
To maintain your core body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, your body naturally has to work harder when it’s cold out. “Our metabolism will increase, and we’ll start utilizing a different type of body fat, called brown fat, as a fuel for keeping our bodies at the right internal temperature,” Dada says. One 2014 study published in the journal Diabetes found that the resting metabolic rate in healthy people with detectable levels of brown fat increased by 14% after cold exposure, though most estimates hover around five to 11%, according to Dada. (Brown fat, or “brown adipose tissue,” is notable for its unique ability to translate excess calories into heat.) In addition to digging into its brown adipose tissue stores, your body might shiver—the involuntary muscle contractions produce heat much like exercise does, as a 2014 study published in the journal Cell Metabolism showed. Whatever the mechanism(s), this metabolic boost means you burn way more calories than you would in more mild conditions, prompting the need to replenish them through eating, Moore says.
Thermic effect
Digestion can also increase your metabolic rate and produce heat, according to Nguyen. Fermentation (or the process by which microorganisms in your gut break down complex carbohydrates like fiber) churns out an estimated 60 calories of heat per hour—a significant amount. Taking this into account, “the hypothesis is that we want to eat more often [when it’s cold out] because that is a heat-generating activity that keeps us warmer,” Nguyen says. (Hence why cold plunges are often touted as a fat-torching health hack!)
Declining serotonin
Last but not least, the reduced sunlight available in winter can also mess with serotonin, a neurotransmitter nicknamed the “happy hormone” thanks to its role in regulating mood. Because serotonin is produced partially in response to sunlight exposure, shorter days can cause a drop in levels, according to Nguyen—a potential cause of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). In a 2014 study published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers reported that people with SAD had 5% more SERT, a protein that terminates serotonin signals, in the winter than in the summer. Besides modulating your emotions, serotonin also acts as a natural appetite suppressant, so a lack thereof can trigger overeating. (And if you’re dealing with full-blown SAD, you might find yourself turning to food to self-soothe on top of that.)
On the subject of changes in cravings, higher-carb items tend to address all the issues we described above—thermogenesis, thermic effect, and declining serotonin—so it makes sense we may be instinctively drawn to them in winter. First, carbs offer a rapid burst of energy, so they’re better positioned to fulfill that increased metabolic demand. Research even shows that when we’re hungrier, “our brain actually starts to prefer things that are going to kind of satisfy that need faster,” Dada says. (Fun fact: This is also why you crave carbs when you’re stressed or sleep-deprived!) Second, high-protein and high-carb dishes produce more heat during digestion, so they “create a bigger thermic effect than those that are high in fat,” Nguyen says. (Larger meals do this, too—another reason why your appetite might increase in the winter.) Third, carbs actually act on your brain to increase serotonin release and lift your mood, Moore says.
Then, there are also practical, social, and emotional reasons why your food choices and eating patterns might fluctuate at this time of year, including produce availability (spring and summer tend to be heavy on leafy greens, while winter is more heavily weighted toward dense root vegetables like potatoes), heightened stress (that Q4 crunch time is no joke, not to mention the financial strain of buying gifts or the mental burden of preparing for a family visit), and the prevalence of food-laden holiday events that make it easy to overindulge. Moore sees this last trend crop up regularly in her own practice: “This time of year, many patients begin appointments by expressing guilt over holiday eating habits—choosing cookies over vegetables, relying on leftovers for comfort, or feeling pressured by social gatherings despite intentions to cut back,” she says. And dehydration—which tends to shoot up during the winter thanks in part to the drier air—can also spur hunger pangs and cravings if your body misinterprets the signals.
Finally, there’s the logical impulse to reach for something warm over something cold when you feel the need to stave off the outside chill. Given the choice between a steaming bowl of chili or a fresh-out-of-the-fridge salad, you’re naturally going to opt for the former. “Our sensory preferences tend to change” to fit what will offer the most satisfaction, Dada says.
Whatever the specific combo of factors at play, the effect of these internal and external forces is often the same at the end of the day: weight gain. Even though your metabolic rate is higher, it’s outmatched by the resulting increase in food intake, according to a 2023 study published in the journal JAMA Network Open (especially when you consider that, in colder months, physical activity also tends to fall by the wayside!). Unsurprisingly, winter is the biggest season for weight gain, particularly around Christmas and New Year’s, with people putting on an average of one to two pounds.
When to be concerned
Now that we’ve established the reasons behind why you might experience changes in eating habits and body size during the winter, that brings us to our final question: Is this ever something to be worried about?
Even though diet culture does a lot to make us feel bad about winter weight gain—especially come spring, when people are gearing up for beach season and women face extra pressure to have the perfect “bikini body”—putting on a few pounds at this time of year often isn’t cause for alarm, according to Dada.
Rather, Dada says, “it’s more of a natural seasonal rhythm of the body.” Even intuitively, she points out, it makes sense “for us to be less active in the winter and have more rest,” in tandem with the shorter days. While diet culture “expects our bodies to always stay exactly the same or always be trending in a particular direction,” they are not naturally so stagnant: Our appetite, cravings, physical activity levels, and weight all “adapt given certain circumstances”—puberty, pregnancy, menopause, and, of course, the seasons, to name a few examples.
That said, you might want to consult a health care provider about wintertime changes if you’re noticing more extreme differences—say, you feel like your eating is out of control or you’re relying on food to fill an emotional void. Either of those could be “an amber flag or a red flag” for a larger health issue, Nguyen says. Consistently eating way more than normal could be a potential sign of binge eating disorder, for example, according to Dada.
Even if you don’t feel like your increase in appetite has reached that point, keep in mind that noshing past comfortable fullness is way easier to do “with these heavier, denser foods,” Nguyen says. You might “end up in a situation where you feel sluggish, you feel bloated, because these foods take longer to digest.” Because of this, Nguyen recommends making a conscious effort to pair these items with other foods to ensure a balance of carbs, protein, fat, and produce (which is rich in fiber). That way, she says, “we’re still honoring these cravings, but we’re not letting that take over and then feeling bad about what we ate” physically.
Meanwhile, excessive emotional eating could be an indicator of SAD, according to Dada. “It certainly can make sense to use food for comfort,” she says. “But if it feels like it’s the only option, and you can’t come up with other ways to manage keeping your emotions at bay,” it’s definitely worth looking into further: seek out a dietitian or therapist who, like Dada, specializes in eating disorders.
What to do
Remember: Feeling hungrier, craving carbs, and, yes, gaining a little weight are all par for the course in winter—and, in turn, you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you have an extra helping at dinner, polish off a few more brownies than you meant to, or notice that the needle on the scale has risen a notch. “It’s always more helpful to see how we can meet our body where it’s at, rather than pathologize it,” Nguyen says.
On that note, instead of feeling wracked with guilt, “practice self-awareness and respond with positive actions,” Moore says. Eating regular, nutrient-rich meals, staying hydrated, getting plenty of sunlight, and engaging in physical activity are all examples of beneficial habits that don’t inherently have anything to do with how much you weigh. And to round out that list, perhaps the most important tip of all: Don’t forget to show yourself (and your body!) compassion in a world that often denies it.