Is there something about the beach that just makes us want to eat? “Absolutely,” experts told us.
By Natalie B. Compton
Traveling has always come with complications. Our By The Way Concierge column will take your travel dilemmas to the experts to help you navigate the unexpected. Want to see your question answered? Submit it here.
Tell By The Way reporter Hannah Sampson that we’re spending the day at the beach, and she’ll tell you her order: sandwiches, chips, fruit, maybe some cut-up veggies and ice cream if anyone is selling it. What is it about the beach that makes us want to eat an entire deli section’s worth of food? We’re using this week’s column to find out.
It can feel impossible to resist the siren song of a sandwich in your bag on a beach day. She beckons as both a comforting meal and an activity. How can you deny her? This is the beach, where hunger (or maybe just the urge to eat) can feel deeper and more urgent than in the rest of your life.
I asked Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group, whether Big Beach Hunger is real, and she said it “absolutely” is. Hunger comes from different places — a biological need to eat and an emotional one — and the beach can trigger both.
First, the biological. Even if you’re at the beach to relax, getting there works up an appetite.
“I think we underestimate the laborious nature of going to the beach,” Moskovitz said. “Planning, lugging our chairs, walking on the sand: … Sometimes you’re already like two hours into physical activity before you’re actually sitting down on a towel or chair and relaxing.”
And you’ll further increase your appetite with activities once you get there — swimming, playing volleyball, gathering seashells — said Avery Zenker, a registered dietitian in Ontario.
It’s also an easy place to get dehydrated, another hunger culprit. Moskovitz and Zenker both said that people can confuse thirst with hunger cues, causing us to reach for a sandwich when we might just need water.
You up the ante if you’re cracking open some beach beers. Not only is it dehydrating, but “alcohol is an appetite stimulant for many people,” Moskovitz said.
What you’re eating at the beach can also have an effect. Moskovitz says you can keep feeling hungry if you’re only munching on a bunch of fun foods (chips, ice cream, etc.) instead of more well-rounded meals (veggies and hummus or that beautiful sandwich in your bag).
“It’s actually related to your body asking for more [nutritious food], or what you’re eating is causing a blood-sugar response,” she said. “Especially refined carbohydrates [or] foods that are higher in added sugar are going to cause blood-sugar spikes, which inevitably result in blood-sugar crashes.” The outcome: a craving for more food.
Now to the emotional or psychological sources of beach hunger.
Zenker said seeing other people eating, feeling relaxed or feeling bored can make us hungry. So can your conditioning. Phoenix-based nutritionist Sarah Herrington said we associate certain environments with certain foods (like turkey at Thanksgiving). If eating has always been a big part of your beach experience, you’ll be primed to eat once you hit the sand.
“The beach for a lot of people can be nostalgic,” Moskovitz said. “We associate being at the beach with playing as kids and our moms having a lot of snacks. … That alone can make us think about food and ignite that drive to eat something.”
Lastly, Moskovitz said it might just be that, for many of us, eating is pleasurable, and we go to the beach to enjoy ourselves. It makes life’s best moments more complete.
She added: “It’s like: ‘Wow, I’m really relaxing and this is nice. But you know what would make this better? Food.’”
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