Health and Fitness
Unless We Optimize Our Satiety Hormones, Hunger Will Chase Us.
I share my personal view on obesity and how awareness of hormones can address the issue of fake hunger signals.
Obesity is widespread globally. Pervasive fake hunger seems to be one of the culprits of obesity.
As documented in Wikipedia: “Obesity in the United States is a major health issue resulting in numerous diseases, specifically increased risk of certain types of cancer, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, as well as significant increases in early mortality and economic costs.”
CHS (Centers for Health Statistics) report depicted 42.4% of U.S. adults as obese in 2018. Stats are higher for men (43%) and a little lower for women (41.9%). Almost half of our population is obese.
We feel too hungry and overeat.
Even though hunger is a natural feeling and essential for our health, excessive and emotional hunger causes substantial health risks.
Hunger is a potent emotion. We need this useful emotion for our survival. Natural hunger serves the purpose of encouraging nourishment. However, false hunger causes issues like obesity, diabetes, stroke, heart problems and many more.
Several hormones affect hunger and satiety feelings. Two major hormones are critical in controlling the hunger-satiety process in our body. These hormones are leptin and ghrelin. Unless we understand the roles and functions of these two critical hormones, hunger will stay a mystery.
However, as healthy individuals. when we understand their role and take the necessary measures to balance and optimize them, we can address the root causes of fake hunger as long as we don’t have other underlying health conditions.
Hormones are very complicated. Unless we have a postdoctoral degree in endocrinology, we will not understand their complex mechanism in our body and not be able to diagnose the causes.
In this article, I touch on the fundamental view of these hormones in the simplest conceivable manner. From the body of knowledge, we know that ghrelin and leptin are two chemical messengers running the hunger-satiety show in our body. These two hormones are opposite each other. While ghrelin increases hunger, leptin lowers it.
There are, of course, many other hormones and neurotransmitters in the process. I will also touch on the other two hormones: insulin and cortisol, shortly.
Ghrelin is relatively straightforward from the functionality aspect. This hormone makes us feel hungry. It is an alert system that reminds us to get vital energy and building blocks for our body.
Leptin is more complicated than ghrelin. This hormone is a regulator of energy balance. It regulates fat stores. Leptin acts on cell receptors. Leptin is mainly made up of adipose cells. However, leptin’s purpose is to diminish those fatty tissues.
Using the analogy of a thermostat, when leptin senses the fat stores are full, it sends satiety signals to the brain.
The problematic bit with leptin is a condition known as “leptin resistance”. This condition causes excessive and sometimes unnecessary hunger. The role of leptin is to send signals and instruct the brain to stop eating. However, when we have a leptin resistance condition, our brain cannot receive the satiety signals. Thus, we feel hungry at all times.
From my personal experience, suffering from excessive hunger for many years, learning this critical information about leptin and ghrelin provided useful insights.
In my opinion, understanding this critical information is useful before we dive into solutions like appetite suppressors, eating too frequently, and other diet regimes.
Hunger is affected by other conditions too. After excessive sugar in our bloodstream, our body triggers insulin. This hormone quickly channels the glucose to different parts of the body which require glucose. If there are not enough organs to take the glucose, it turns the glucose into body fat.
But the issue is we feel extreme hunger when glucose drops quickly. Therefore, excessive carbohydrate consumption, especially for carbs-intolerant people like me, can be one of the reasons for fake hunger.
From my experience, another culprit for fake hunger was chronic stress. My cortisol levels got too high when I was under pressure at work and in demanding social situations. The more stressed I felt, the hungrier I got. I tested this case on days with sleep deprivation. As soon as I woke up from inadequate sleep, I felt terrible hunger.
Apart from stress, uncomfortable emotions also caused substantial hunger in me. I wanted to fill the void with food. This situation is called emotional eating.
One more obvious reason for feeling false hunger was dehydration. When I was too thirsty, I was also feeling hungry. They are different feelings, but sometimes they might mingle.
Since I suffered from excessive hunger for a long time, I obtained professional advice and committed myself to resolving my hunger issues. Four significant lifestyle changes reduced my emotional hunger and increased the feeling of satiety sustainably.
Changing my diet,
Fixing my sleep issues,
Getting fat-adapted, and,
Learning to fast.
Being on a high carbohydrate diet for so long, I used to eat six times a day, three meals, and three snacks. I was still feeling hunger pangs. I tried appetite suppressants, but they did not help either because they did not address the root causes of my hunger. They even caused more complications.
My blood sugar got very high after the main meals. I used to eat fruits as a snack and drink fruit juices. These high-carb snacks were increasing my blood sugar. As soon as elevated blood sugar was settled by an insulin rush, I felt terribly hungry again.
Changing my diet was a sustainable solution to address hunger issues. Replacing carbohydrates with healthy fats as an energy source reduced my hunger. To make it systematic, I selected a ketogenic diet regime. A keto diet requires high fat, moderate protein, and very low carbs. Due to other health conditions, I went a bit extreme and cut all carbs from my diet, which gave me extra benefits later.
Eating sufficient healthy fats created satiety because leptin sensed sufficient fat in my body and sent the right message to the brain.
Following a strict ketogenic diet created substantial ketones, an alternative energy source for the brain and many other organs. Ketosis helped me move from full glucose dependence by providing alternative energy, especially to my active brain.
When my bloodstream had high ketones, my hunger was reduced, my energy increased, and my depressive, pessimistic, and moody feelings disappeared. I experienced positive emotions like joy, satiety, and serenity.
Being fat-adapted was a significant milestone for me because my body learned to use body fat as energy. In a fat-adapted state, I felt full and satisfied.
I had my next successful milestone when I learned to fast intermittently. Feeding in a smaller window and fasting for the rest of the day, I did not feel any hunger. No glucose, no insulin spike. I had a steady glucose level through gluconeogenesis.
Gluconeogenesis means that my body creates glucose mainly from proteins. Since I had an abundance of ketones in my bloodstream, low glucose did not cause any energy deficiency. Far from it, I felt more energetic, more alert, and more satisfied.
The ketogenic diet and fasting helped me to optimize my leptin, ghrelin, insulin, and cortisol hormones. Nowadays, I only feel real hunger when my body needs nutrition. I don’t experience emotional hunger anymore. I eat one main nutritious meal to sustain my health and happiness. I made this a lifestyle.
Apart from being fat-adapted, I had many more benefits of fasting. Fasting detoxified my digestive system. I supplemented it with gelatin from the bone broth that fixed my leaky gut. A healthy gut contributed to feeling better.
In terms of hormones, I also learned to beat elevated cortisol. The best solution to reduce my elevated cortisol was getting enough quality sleep. I fixed my sleep issues. Having a quality sleep contributed to improving my hunger problem. When I did not have quality sleep, my hunger reached an extreme state.
In my opinion and from personal experience, hunger for healthy individuals is a hormonal issue, even though there may be other causes and underlying health issues.
As a case study on myself, making these natural lifestyle changes, I got rid of my emotional hunger. I don’t feel fake hunger anymore. As I am fat-adapted, meaning my body uses fat as the primary energy source, my brain does not go into starvation mode.
Since I am in ketosis and eat a moderate amount of protein for my body requirements, I keep my lean muscles. Best of all, when I am hungry nowadays, I know that it is real hunger, not a fake one.
My article is by no means medical advice. I simply share my experience and opinion in this piece. Hunger and related hormones are very complicated. There may be many underlying health issues causing hunger for different individuals. Therefore, it is always necessary to obtain informed advice from qualified healthcare professionals.
I delve into the details of these two critical hormones in the attached articles.
Make the Body Leptin-Sensitive to Lose Visceral Fat With a Simple Metabolic Shift
Optimize Cortisol to Melt Belly Fat and Keep Lean Muscles with Three Tips
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Fat Loss & Healthy Weight Management Articles
If you enjoyed this story, you might also check the relevant articles listed below.
Three Tips to Eliminate Insulin Resistance and Shrink Waistline
Rewire the Brain to Melt Unwanted Belly Fat Preventing Obesity
Losing Fat by Understanding the Intricacies of Six Major Hormones
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As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
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