Health, Fitness, Lifestyle
Here’s How I Turned Off My Hunger Switch.
Satisfying my leptin with healthy fats made the most significant difference.
Hunger is a potent emotion. It is essential for our survival. Real hunger serves the purpose, but false hunger puts us into trouble. It is a false hunger that causes obesity and many other ailments.
Based on my experience, I introduce simple techniques to turn off the hunger switch naturally. I live with full satiety.
There are several hormones affecting hunger and satiety. However, two of them are critical and control the process. Understanding the roles of these two hormones and the factors that influence them can help us manage our hunger logically and consciously.
I don’t want to go into biological and anatomical details. Instead, I aim to create awareness of these two critical hormones to make my point in this article. Within the hunger context, two additional hormones are worth mentioning: insulin and cortisol.
Let me introduce ghrelin and leptin first.
Ghrelin and leptin are two chemical messengers running the show in our bodies. These two hormones are like yin-yang. While ghrelin increases hunger, leptin lowers it.
Ghrelin is straightforward. It is designed to make us hungry to feed our body for vital energy and other building blocks like protein to nurture our organs.
Leptin is a bit tricky. It is a regulator of energy balance. Leptin acts on cell receptors. It is mainly made up of adipose cells, but it aims to diminish fatty tissues. In other words, it regulates fat stores.
In simple terms, like a thermostat, if leptin senses our fat stores are full, it sends satiety signals to the brain.
The tricky bit with leptin is a condition known as “leptin resistance”. This condition causes excessive and unnecessary hunger. Remember, leptin instructs the brain to stop eating. If we have leptin resistance, our brain does not get this signal. Thus, we feel hungry at all times.
I wrote a detailed article about leptin resistance as it is critical to manage hunger and feel satisfied after eating.
There are, of course, other conditions that we need to consider. For example, excessive sugar in our bloodstream triggers insulin. Another culprit is chronic stress, which increases cortisol. I briefly touch on these additional hormones affecting our hunger. I also experienced dehydration and uncomfortable emotions cause hunger.
Let me share my experience.
Three significant lifestyle changes helped me reduce my emotional hunger and increase my feeling of satiety. They are changing my diet, fixing my sleep issues, and learning too fast.
When I was on a high carbohydrate diet, even though I used to eat frequently, six times a day, I felt a lot of hunger pangs. I used to use chewing gums and unnecessary and risky appetite suppressants. They did not help at all because they did not address the root causes of hunger.
As I mentioned before, “Sugar Was Killing Me, But I Found Smart Ways” to Beat It. It was astonishing to see my blood sugar going very high after the main meals. Fruit juices were skyrocketing it. My elevated blood sugar took four hours to settle into a reasonably healthy range.
When blood sugar drops suddenly, after a massive insulin spike, I feel terrible hunger. So, changing my diet was the best and most sustainable solution to address hunger issues. Replacing carbohydrates with healthy fats as an energy source was an excellent start.
Fat created satiety for me because leptin was sensing sufficient fat in my body and kept sending the right message.
To this end, a ketogenic diet solved the root causes of my problem. At later stages, I even found a better diet that suited my lifestyle and genetic makeup.
Moving from glucose dependence and providing ketones’ alternative energy to my brain, all my depressive, pessimistic, and positive emotions replaced moody hunger feelings.
When I got fat-adapted, a majority of my hunger feelings disappeared. I felt full and satisfied.
Later I learned to fast. I used the intermittent fasting regime. Eating my food in a smaller window and fasting for the rest of the day. Fasting is very easy for me on a high-fat diet. I have energy from fat, and my leptin works well.
When I feel hungry, I know that it is real hunger. My body needs to replenish. It is not emotional hunger anymore. Therefore, I cut snacks and reduced the number of meals. I still eat only one good meal a day and thrive with it.
Fasting helped me detoxify my digestive system. Using gelatin from bone broth fixed my leaky gut. Occasional use of charcoal helped me trap toxins. A healthy gut was an excellent solution to my hunger pangs.
Last but not least was fixing my sleep issues.
Sleep played an essential role in fixing my hunger problem. When I did not have quality sleep, my hunger reached an extreme state. Analyzing the sleep logs through my smartwatch, I noticed that, even though I slept eight hours, the sleep quality was sometimes under six hours. It was evident in my overall feelings.
By making these simple lifestyle changes, I turned off my hunger switch. I don’t feel unnecessary hunger anymore. Being fat-adapted, my brain does not go into starvation mode. It uses body fat effectively. As a bonus, I keep my lean muscles. If I am hungry, I am really hungry. The food feels delicious too.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I delve into more details in another article for interested readers.
Here is my story reflecting two decades of experience to improve my metabolic and mental health.
Sample Articles from My Collection
I’d like to link to my recent health and fitness articles covering my health conditions, my approach, and creating the desired outcomes. We are all unique and experience various situations and solve them using different methods. However, learning from the body of knowledge and experiences of other people can give us valuable perspectives to customize our solutions.
Eliza Shed 30 Pounds In Six Months With Two Tips: And Never Gained Them Again.
Why Is Activated Charcoal in My Emergency Bag? Is It Hype or Hope?
How I Defeated Arthritis: My journey to overcoming inflammation and freeing from pain.
Powerful Life-Changing Hacks That Truly Transformed My Life: Smart Sleep Habits.
Loneliness Is In The Mind: I Used To Feel Lonely; It Was Unbearable.
My Unusual Diet Revealed: How a carnivore lifestyle transformed my health and fitness.
Why Is It So Hard to Get Rid of Loose Skin?: And how can we speed up the elimination process.
Sample Life Lessons from Friends
I selected these stories for my new readers from my collection.
I share more on Euphoria publication.
I also write about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that this post does not include health or professional advice. I documented my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
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About the Author
I’m a technologist, postdoctoral researcher, author of several books, editor, and digital marketing strategist with four decades of industry experience.
I write articles on Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal Media. On Medium, I established ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, Technology Hits, SYNERGY, and Readers Hope publications supporting 15,500 writers on Medium. You can join my publications requesting access here.
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I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. I wrote several articles on major diseases and valuable nutrients for health. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health.
