Sometimes your best weight loss efforts can be derailed if hunger takes over. However, you will have more control over your hunger – and better weight loss – if you learn how to control your hunger hormones. In this blog, Dr. Trupti Patel shares the details.
Hunger is a complex phenomenon with many causes which include medical, psychological, and lifestyle. Hormones play a significant role in hunger and cravings.
There are Two Primary Hormones that Influence Your Hunger
There are two predominant hormones that affect how hungry you are. They are ghrelin and leptin.
Ghrelin is a hormone made in your stomach. It enters your bloodstream and travels to your brain, where it tells the brain to become hungry and eat food. The higher your levels of ghrelin, the hungrier you get. The lower your levels, the fuller you feel and the easier it is to eat fewer calories.
4 Ways to Keep Your Ghrelin Hormone Levels in Check
There are 4 main ways to control your ghrelin hormone levels. These include:
- Increasing your protein intake. A diet higher in protein makes you fuller and reduces your feelings of hunger. A higher protein intake has been shown to induce prolonged ghrelin suppression.
- Increasing your muscle mass. Higher amounts of lean muscle mass are associated with lower levels of ghrelin.
- Prioritizing your sleep. Poor sleep increases your ghrelin level and has been associated with increased hunger and weight gain.
- Maintaining a healthy weight. Frequent yo-yo dieting can increase your level of ghrelin which is shown to increase your feelings of hunger.
How Does Leptin Affect Your Hunger?
Leptin is a hormone made in your fat cells, which enters the bloodstream and travels to your brain where it tells your brain that you are full. So, in general, leptin is a good hormone to have around since it keeps us from eating.
Unfortunately, many people who struggle with excess weight have leptin resistance, which means that even with large amounts of leptin around, your brain does not recognize the message to stop eating.
Can You Reverse Leptin Resistance?
If you suffer from leptin resistance, there are 4 things you can do to help reverse this process such as:
- Eat enough protein. It helps with weight loss, which in turn may lead to an improvement in leptin resistance.
- Exercise. Physical activity may help reverse leptin resistance.
- Get adequate sleep. Poor sleep has been linked to leptin resistance.
- Decrease your triglycerides. Having high triglycerides can prevent the transport of leptin from your blood to your brain, which then doesn’t allow the brain to sense fullness.
At Physicians Premiere Weight & Wellness Center, helping people better understand their unique barriers to weight loss success as well as learning how to overcome them. If you have any questions or are ready to get started today, visit https://healthymeweightloss.com/contact-us/. We would be honored to help you as well.
