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Posted on May 9th 2008 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
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.
