All about Ghrelin and Leptin

I've been writing a once a week post on a health topic that is often misunderstood or is currently popular and being discussed often online and in the media. Thus far I've written on sodium, calories, trans fat, and the macronutrient fat.


This week I'm tackling hunger pangs and the hormones ghrelin and leptin which influence when and how hungry we feel before we open the fridge. 


Every person has the hormones ghrelin and leptin present in their bodies, and ever person has a different ratio of the two. These two hormones are important to understand because they are essential in regulating your eating and sleeping cycles. This link also means that these two hormones also have a dramatic effect on overall weight loss.


Ghrelin is secreted by the stomach and is the hormone that causes us to feel hunger and slows metabolism. This is why you often feel it is a meal time without even actually knowing what time it is. Your body's internal meal clock is regulated by this hormone, and ghrelin generally is released around the time you most often eat your meals. Ghrelin can be thrown off rather easily, causing us to overeat or reach for something we normally would not. Getting a full restful night of sleep is one of the most important factors in regulating ghrelin levels. When our sleep schedule is thrown off, be it by staying up to late or not getting enough sleep, the body's hormones will be thrown out of whack and ghrelin is often over-produced throughout the day after a bad night of sleep. 


Leptin is the companion hormone to ghrelin. It is created by the fat cells in the body and is responsible for appetite suppression and increased metabolism. Leptin works as an appetite suppressant immediately once we begin eating. However, it takes the body about twenty minutes to recognize that full feeling and for the leptin hormone to be released in the body.


Based on this information you might think that less ghrelin and more leptin would be the best ratio for your body to support healthy body and weight loss. This has shown not to be the case, in a number of studies research has shown that the an increased amount of leptin in the body leads to the individual being more prone to obesity. The reason for this is that an abnormally high amount of leptin leads to an inability to recognize the leptin hormone by the body. This means that often a person does not realize they are full until much later than a person with a normal amount of leptin in their body.


It is important to remember that although these two hormones have been linked to healthy eating and weight loss that things like these are far from the only contributors to what causes us to overeat or not get the right vitamins and nutrients our of our diet. Being aware of your body and what goes on inside of it is important, but so is recognizing our own mental influence over our bodies.