Diabetic patients (DP) refer increased hunger sensation (HS) when hyperglycemic but not yet ketogenic. As HS shows a within‐day (ultradian cyclicity) and intra‐day (circadian cyclicity) repetitivity, its recursive pattern was investigated in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), in compensated and uncompensated metabolic stage. Method: HS was approached in its cyclic structure by means of spectral analysis (SA), and in its circadian rhythmicity by means of Single Cosinor analysis (SCA), applied to self‐rated scores of HS given every 30 min to their HS (orexigram) by DP. Results: Exaggerated periprandial, interprandial, and/or nocturnal peaks of HS were seen in the orexigram of both the type I and type II DP. Specific alterations in HS periodogram were detected, structurally denoting a relative prevalence of the ultradian components along with the deamplification and loss of the circadian harmonics. Discussion: The increase of HS (hyperorexia) in nonketotic DM may be formally attributed to a mechanism of frequency multiplication and amplitude demodulation in the multifrequency bioperiodic structure which physiologically regulates the recursive pattern to the daily HS in human beings. © 1996 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.