On a diet? Hungry? Here's why... and how to overcome it.
How are you doing with your New Year's Resolution to diet? Are you starving all the time? Obsessing about food? Counting the minutes to your next meal?
Here's why...
There's a hormone called Ghrelin (not gremlin but close enough). A hunger hormone. You secrete this when the stomach is empty. It lets the brain know it's time to get back to the fridge. When you eat enough, secretion stops. The brain gets the message and lets you have a break from eating.
So, it should be nice and easy to control. It makes sense. Eat. Then stop when your brain realises the ghrelin's gone. Easy! That's why we no longer have an obesity epidemic in the western world. Oh, hang on...
Ghrelin has a complicated relationship with leptin (satiety hormone) and other chemicals. It's close mates with our reward systems. When we have mind-blowing sex, drugs, alcohol, chocolate, cake -- and other things that make you feel good in the moment -- ghrelin rewards us by linking us with feel-good chemicals such as dopamine.
Compared to people of average or slim build, high levels of ghrelin are linked to obesity (obviously) and in people with anorexia nervosa (strangely enough). Ghrelin increases as we get older too.
How to fix
There's not much you can do about getting older but you can regulate ghrelin with diet. Not any diet though. Many diets have been shown to fail for the majority of people, in the long term.
Which diet?
The ketogenic diet -- high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate -- has been shown to moderate hormones related to increased appetite and regulate the hormone insulin. The ketogenic (or keto) diet causes the body to fuel itself with ketone bodies rather than glucose. Ketones suppress the appetite hormones like ghrelin and cholecystokinin (CCK). When ketones are circulating you experience less hunger.
More about keto
Many overweight people have a deranged metabolism, insulin sensitivity and lots of other health problems. The keto diet is proven to bring the hormone system back into balance, allowing for a natural, healthy weight loss without the added burden of being starving all the time. If you're interested in learning more about the keto diet, The Diet Doctor is packed full of free resources (there's a paid section too if you really want to get stuck in, but all the basics are free to get you started).
Sleep problems
Ghrelin is high in people with insomnia. The circadian rhythm -- biological clock which responds to triggers from light and dark in our environment -- is often disrupted in people with excess bodyweight. Their hormone cycles are off kilter. So, it makes sense to work on sleep hygiene and returning the circadian rhythm to normal.
How to fix
You can do this by avoiding stimulants, dimming lights in the evening and refraining from staring at electronic devices before bedtime.
Tame your inner gremlins! I'm guilty of not winding down before sleep. But I still sleep like a baby.
Hahah
Oh you're so lucky. I get tired, go to bed, then start thinking about the meaning of life, the universe, the origins of a word, a song on a loop in my head. Crazy making. :D
This ghrelin is truly a gremlin. lol This is very good information @anjkara.
hahah it is. Thanks Dawnsheree :)