How does the brain know when we’re hungry or full? What are the hormones that impact our appetite? Leptin and ghrelin are the body’s main hormones that control our hunger. They regulate when we’re hungry and when we’re full. They also affect our body weight and metabolism.
Leptin is a hormone, made up of fat cells that reduce our appetite. Leptin basically regulates our hunger, metabolism, and energy level. A healthy leptin system improves our brain fitness, brain memory, mental sharpness, and boosts mood. This means, our body needs leptin in optimum level to stay lean, think clearly, be in a good mood, etc.
People with lean body have a low-level of leptin while obese people have higher level of leptin. However, “Many obese people have built up a resistance to the appetite-suppressing effects of leptin” – says obesity expert Mary Dallman, PhD, from the University of California at San Francisco.
The imbalance in hormonal level impacts body’s metabolism. Leptin hormone controls the rate of fat breakdown. As leptin levels rise, the metabolic rate increases. As leptin levels fall, the metabolic rate decreases. Similarly, the higher the fat we have in our body, the more leptin is produced as the fat cells are responsible for producing leptin.
On the other hand, leptin can also be harmful to your body. If we constantly eat disproportionately, then the body can become leptin resistant. This means, our body cannot judge that the body fat levels are too high, and leptin receptors are desensitized. People suffering from leptin resistance feel more starving and ravenous more often than not. This condition usually occurs when we follow an excessively restrictive diet or not eating enough to satisfy ourselves. Once this happens, fewer calories get burned resulting in retention of fat in the body and we feel harder to shed the extra body weight.
The best way to control leptin is to stay slim! Don’t get too far over target weight and / or go on large bulks. In addition, we can also include Taurine or Acetyl L-Carnitine (ALCAR) supplement in our diet to prevent leptin resistance.
On the flipside, we have another hormone named as ghrelin which was discovered 7 years after leptin. It is the hormone that increases our hunger, and plays a major role in controlling the body weight. Ghrelin is produced in our stomach and send signals to the brain to eat and drink when our stomach is empty. Interestingly enough, ghrelin levels become high when we are sleep deprived. That is why after a few sleepless nights, we often feel hungry.
Moreover, it is a crucial regulator of nutrient identifying, meal initiation, and hunger. Apart from its orexigenic impact, it plays various regulatory roles in the body’s organs and systems. Ghrelin indicating has significantly been recognized as a key regulator of diabetes, obesity and insulin resistance. It is available all over our body, not just in the stomach. It’s also produced by the lungs, gonads, pancreas, kidney, adrenal gland, placenta and the brain. It also controls glucose hemostasis by preventing insulin discharge and regulating glycogenolysis. There are a lot of benefits of ghrelin in our body and it is considered much more than a hunger hormone. Few of the benefits are:
- Ghrelin signaling reduces thermogenesis to control energy expenditure.
- It advances the survival prognosis of myocardial infarction by decreasing sympathetic nerve activity.
- It inhibits muscle weakening by inducing muscle differentiation and fusion.
- It controls bone formation and metabolism by reducing proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts.
- It eliminates Alzheimer’s disease, improves spatial intelligence and reduce inflammation.
- It is also involved in the development of cancer and metastasis.
There are many other different ways, which help in increasing metabolism, such as:
- Maximizing flavor and nutrition in food.
- Consuming Omega-3 oils, like ground flax seed, walnuts, beans, fish, etc.
- Incorporating fruits and vegetables into every meal.
- Avoiding artificial sweeteners, and much more.
In conclusion, leptin and ghrelin are the big players in controlling appetite, which subsequently impacts the body weight or fat. When we get hungrier, we tend to eat more. When we eat more, obviously, we gain weight. If the hunger hormone level is not in check, not only may it affects body weight, but energy levels, mental acuity, and performance level as well.
Apart from these two, there are many other interacting hormones, like PYY that shape our hunger and appetite. Many factors effect these hormones and our response to them. So, if you’re looking for a solution, rely on a short-term food plan as a quick fix. Now it’s the time to get active and eat healthier so your metabolism can understand what your hunger hormones are telling it!
To sum up, if you regularly overeat and don’t do any physical activity or exercise, it creates a vicious cycle where ghrelin and leptin combine with insulin and increase not only the fat but also the toxicity of that fat.
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