What is ghrelin and how it prevents you from losing weight

What is ghrelin

GhrelinM. D. Klok, S. Jakobsdottir, M. L. Drent. The role of leptin and ghrelin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans: a review / Obesity Reviews Is a peptide hormone that is responsible for appetite. It is produced mainly in the stomach, but some is also produced in the brain - in the hypothalamus.

Immediately before eating, hormone levels riseD. E. Cummings, J. Q. Purnell, R. S. Frayo. A preprandial rise in plasma ghrelin levels suggests a role in meal initiation in humans / Diabetes approximately twice, and immediately after it begins to decrease and after about 1–2 hours reaches a minimum level.

As the desolation goesM. Tschöp, R. Wawarta, R. L. Riepl. Post-prandial decrease of circulating human ghrelin levels / Journal of endocrinological investigation In the stomach, the level of ghrelin rises again and reaches a peak after 3-4 hours, so that the person is hungry again.

How ghrelin interferes with your diet

Ghrelin levels are directly related to hunger and portion size, as well as a person's weight and body fat percentage. The higher the body mass index (BMI), the less ghrelin is produced. It would seem that this is good: it causes hunger, which means that the less it is, the easier it will be to keep from food and lose weight.

However, being overweight not only lowers hormone levels, but also disruptsP. J. English, M. A. Ghatei, I. A. Malik. Food fails to suppress ghrelin levels in obese humans / The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism the body's reaction to food intake. While in slender people, the level of ghrelin decreases rapidly within 30 minutes after eating, in overweight people it practically does not change.N. Tentolouris, A. Kokkinos, C. Tsigos. Differential effects of high-fat and high-carbohydrate content isoenergetic meals on plasma active ghrelin concentrations in lean and obese women / Hormone and metabolic research.

Scientists suggest that a disturbed mechanism of hunger and satiety can lead to overeating. Moreover, when a fat person sits on diet, restricts nutrition and begins to lose fat, ghrelin levels rise, which can increase appetite and lead to a breakdown.

In addition, overweight people appear to be more sensitive to this hormone. So, in one experimentM. R. Druce, A. M. Wren, A. J. Park. Ghrelin increases food intake in obese as well as lean subjects / International Journal of Obesity participants were given an intravenous infusion of ghrelin and then asked to eat as much as they wanted. As a result, after a large dose (5 pmol / kg / m), slender people ate 20% more than usual, and overweight people - 70%.

Can ghrelin levels be influenced by diet?

There is some dataC. Koliaki, A. Kokkinos, N. Tentolouris. The Effect of Ingested Macronutrients on Postprandial Ghrelin Response: A Critical Review of Existing Literature Data / International journal of peptides in favor of the fact that high-protein foods help reduce ghrelin levels and appetite for a longer period than foods with a predominance of other macronutrients.

Carbohydrates quickly reduce the amount of ghrelin after a meal, but after about an hour, its level rises again.J. P. Lomenick, M. S. Melguizo, S. L. Mitchell. Effects of Meals High in Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat on Ghrelin and Peptide YY Secretion in Prepubertal Children / The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. But after a high-protein meal, it remains 1. D. T. Khoury, O. Obeid, S. T. Azar. Variations in postprandial ghrelin status following ingestion of high ‑ carbohydrate, high ‑ fat, and high ‑ protein meals in males / Annals of nutrition and metabolism
2. H.J. Leidy, R. D. Mattes, W. W. Campbell. Effects of Acute and Chronic Protein Intake on Metabolism, Appetite, and Ghrelin During Weight Loss / Obesity
3. E. P. Rizi, T. P. Loh, S. Baig. A high carbohydrate, but not fat or protein meal attenuates postprandial ghrelin, PYY and GLP ‑ 1 responses in Chinese men / PLOS One reduced and 2–3 hours after lunch.

Scientists suggest that this effect can be at least partially explained by the long absorption period of this substance, but not all scientific studies confirm the theory. So, in a number of experiments 1. J. Erdmann, F. Lippl, V. Schusdziarra. Differential effect of protein and fat on plasma ghrelin levels in man / Regulatory peptides
2. Y. Greenman, N. Golani, S. Gilad. Ghrelin secretion is modulated in a nutrient- and gender-specific manner / Clinical endocrinology
3. L. J Moran, N. D. Luscombe ‑ Marsh, M. Noakes. The satiating effect of dietary protein is unrelated to postprandial ghrelin secretion / The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism found no link between protein, ghrelin levels and appetite, so more research is needed.

Anyway, people on high protein diet consistently feel less hungry. And this strategy can be beneficial, even if protein does not actually affect ghrelin levels and decreases appetite through other mechanisms.

How to regulate ghrelin by other methods

In addition to eating habits, there are two other factors directly related to ghrelin levels - sleep and stress. By changing your habits, you can reduce hunger and avoid breakdowns.

Establish sleep patterns

Like other hormones, ghrelin is subject to daily fluctuations. The peak of production falls onF. A. Scheer, C. J. Morris, S. A. Shea. The internal circadian clock increases hunger and appetite in the evening independent of food intake and other behaviors / Obesity at 20:00, and the lowest level is observed in the morning.

In theory, this helps normally. get enough sleepwithout getting up in the morning due to acute hunger after 6-8 hours without food. However, disrupted sleep patterns can alter this mechanism and cause the body to produce more ghrelin.

In one experimentS. Taheri, L. Lin, D. Austin. Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index / Plos Medicine found that those who sleep 5 hours a day have 14.9% more ghrelin than those who sleep for eight hours. Moreover, regardless of the body mass index.

In addition to the amount of sleep, a normal schedule is also important. In one studyJ. Qian, C. J. Morris, R. Caputo. Ghrelin is Impacted by the Endogenous Circadian System and by Circadian Misalignment in Humans / International Journal of Obesity tested how a disrupted sleep schedule affects the amount of ghrelin and appetite after meals.

In one group, the participants slept from 11 pm to 7 am, in the other, they first observed a similar schedule, and then shifted it by 12 hours.

Scientists checked their hormone levels and found that people with a disrupted schedule had significantly more ghrelin after meals than those who slept at the same time. And even after consuming a normal portion, they continued to crave starchy foods, dairy products, vegetables and fruits.

So, by adjusting your sleep patterns, you can influence your ghrelin levels and stop eating after you've consumed enough calories to feel full.

Reduce stress levels

Both acute and chronic stress increaseJ. Chuang, J. M. Zigman. Ghrelin's Roles in Stress, Mood, and Anxiety Regulation / International Journal of Peptides plasma ghrelin level, suppresses satiety, accelerates gastric emptying and reduces synthesis and secretion insulin.

The hormone suppressesM. R. Loenen, B. Geenen, Icon, I. A. C. Arnoldussen, A. J. Kiliaan. Ghrelin as a prominent endocrine factor in stress-induced obesity / Nutritional Neuroscience production of certain peptides by intestinal cells, which reduces satiety and forces you to consume more food. In addition, ghrelin stimulates the activity of the hypothalamic neuropeptide Y, which induces cravings for high-carb foods and promotesL. E. Kuo, J. B. Kitlinska, J. U. Tilan. Neuropeptide Y acts directly in the periphery on fat tissue and mediates stress-induced obesity and metabolic syndrome / Nature medicine accumulation of fat.

Unsurprisingly, stressful events often cause people to forget about dieting and pounce on sweets, and long periods of unfavorable life end up gaining extra pounds.

It is clear that few can take and get rid of stress. But everyone can apply proven techniques to restore peace of mind. Slow breathing, meditation, listening to music helps. 1. A. Zaccaro, A. Piarulli, M. Laurino. How Breath ‑ Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho ‑ Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing / Frontiers in human neuroscience
2. M. Goyal, S. Singh, E. M. S. Sibinga. Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis / JAMA internal medicine
3. M. Witte, A. Spruit, S. Hooren, X. Moonen. Effects of music interventions on stress ‑ related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta ‑ analyzes / Health Psychology Review reduce stress levels - no matter what happens in life.