"Mmm" hormone makes us eat
Go to the grocery store hungry and you're bound to crave everything in sight. Blame your "Mmm" hormone, says new research that names the natural molecule ghrelin the responsible party.Why ghrelin? Because it improves perception and memory when it comes to food. When hunger strikes, watch out, because ghrelin makes the brain find just about every food appealing, sending us on a path to diet destruction.
Researchers have long known that ghrelin, a hormone secreted in the gut, rises and falls before and after meals. Now they're learning that this "Mmm" hormone has even more power -- it causes hunger and encourages eating.
It makes perfect sense, say researchers, who claim the activation of ghrelin is why starving people eat food they might not otherwise find appetizing and why in times of plenty, people overeat. Ghrelin, then, is one key to the obesity epidemic.
While therapies may one day be tasked with disrupting the effects of ghrelin, treatments may come with unwanted side effects on mood, since they would target the brain's pleasure centers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-10-2008 @ 7:51AM
marcie0305 said...
Related to what I said in your last post, I think our brains crave what it believes to be the closest source of - say protein - in the form of what you usually eat. So, that craving for a Big Mac is probably because you are eating too many Big Macs. If you start eating healthier, and get over the "withdrawal" of the unhealthy foods - you can change your brain to crave the healthier foods.
In the context of this post, try a "sugar" fast for just a few days and see how much easier it is to do without. And if the craving is totally overtaking you (starvation will make you crave the "high-load" carbs, for one example), make a healthier choice in organic dark chocolate or cane-sweetened organic yogurt or kefir. Your body will thank you :)
~Marcie
http://feedingblackmail.blogspot.com
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