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Hunger Hormones
Your Hunger Hormones… Say “Hello” to Ghrelin & Leptin
Did you even know you have hunger hormones? As far as weight control is concerned, they can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Whether they are friend or foe depends on a number of things. Let’s talk a bit about what these hunger hormones are and how they are supposed to function.
Ghrelin is a hormone that increases your appetite. It’s released in the stomach, and its job is to tell your brain when you’re hungry… that is, when your body needs more fuel, so you are cued to eat. When you experience a growling stomach prior to meal time, that’s the hormone ghrelin, the “hunger hormone” telling you it’s time to eat.
Once released, ghrelin levels remain elevated until food stretches your stomach wall and creates a feeling of fullness. You can actually control the affect your food intake has on your weight by choosing foods that are high in water content and are low calorie. These reduce your ghrelin levels before you’ve overeaten by making you feel fuller with food that has higher water content and fewer calories. Some foods that are high in water content and are low calorie are soups (not creamed soups), salads, non-starchy vegetables and watermelon. Choose high protein snacks like almonds or cashews to help to keep your growlin’ ghrelin gremlin under control, because…
