It would not be hard pressed to find someone that is trying to lose weight but having no real success. They are doing all the right things and still that scale is barely moving. I hate to say it, but I must include myself in that number. I have the willingness to eat right (more than I eat wrong), but sometimes that hunger just will not let go. All the fresh fruit in the world cannot satisfy you. You try and wait for your brain to signal your stomach that it is full, but you and I both know you can create a lot of consumption damage by the time that happens. I will admit that eating smaller frequent meals throughout the day has been the best remedy so far in keeping our diets under control. However, I recently discovered a hormone called ghrelin that obviously plays a lead role in why we are so incredibly HUNGRY! Ghrelin is one of a complex array of natural substances that carry messages between the brain and the digestive system (wow! this really caught my attention). It is secreted by specialized cells in the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine, ghrelin acts on the brain. It is the first natural appetite stimulant found to be made outside the brain.
There is this other hormone called leptin which is found in the brain and it signals your stomach to let you know you are full; because this hormone is located in the brain it is difficult to manipulate (the brain is a pretty smart cookie). However, ghrelin is produced in the stomach and uses the bloodstream to send its messages to the brain. Scientist believe that if it turns out that ghrelin is the key that fits the what-makes-us-hungry lock, then it can be manipulated easier than leptin. Another discovery of ghrelin is the way it favors the accumulation of lipids in visceral fatty tissue (belly fat). We must remember belly fat is linked to health risk such as heart disease and diabetes II.
This hormone called ghrelin is beginning to answer a lot of questions regarding weight loss. So it would appear that this hormone ghrelin is made in our stomachs and this hormone increases hunger. That is the first bit of bad news; there is a hormone working against us to make us want to eat. It is bad enough if you are a female that struggles with PMS and the cravings that visit on a monthly basis, now they have discovered a hormone that works daily to make us hungry and drives our desire to eat! This ghrelin hormone also decreases the burning of fat and decreases the basic metabolic rate (we can’t win for losing). Anyone who has ever dieted knows that the first few pounds come off relatively easy but then the basic metabolic rate (energy) drops, appetite becomes unbearable and further weight loss by voluntary efforts becomes very difficult. These effects are all mediated by a hormone called ghrelin which was discovered in the last two years. When a person eats, the amount of their ghrelin hormone drops so you are not as hungry and why you don’t eat (dieting) the amount of ghrelin increases (you could eat a small country). Before I continue, I want to take this opportunity to state that eating small frequent meals throughout the day stabilizes our hunger and in return the ghrelin hormone is not as potent as it has potential to be; because you are eating. To me, this also means that dieting may not hold any real success because restricted eating triggers ghrelin. Studies show that this hormone has a substantial drop after each meal and then rises between meals until you eat again.
The question I know we all want to know is “how do you turn ghrelin off so that hunger stops, the metabolic rate is maintained and fat is burned so I can lose weight?” At this time, there is no medicine that specifically inhibits ghrelin secretion. Research on this hormone is fairly new so there is much more to come.
I personally stumbled across this hormone when researching information on sleep/rest and how it relates to exercise. I discovered information on leptin (in the brain) and ghrelin (in the stomach). Both of which fascinated me and sparked my desire of course, to share this fitness fine. This is my first article on ghrelin, but definitely not my last. More on this exciting discovery to come.
resources: internet, JAMA
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