- Though it might not seem like it, we actually have control over
our appetite to some degree. In this video we'll be
discussing the science of hunger and appetite and the
corresponding hormones, and how you can use this
science to feel less hungry while on a weight loss journey, while improving the
health of your metabolism at the same time. The experience of hunger
resides mainly in our brains, specifically in the hypothalamus, an ancient brain region involved
in instinctual processes such as sex, sleep, thirst
and obviously appetite. Key hormones in your body
communicate with the hypothalamus to either cease or
initiate eating behavior depending on many different factors. These include leptin,
ghrelin, insulin, glucagon, and others like peptide
YY and cholecystokinin. Because hunger isn't as
simple as an empty stomach, our behavior and most
importantly what we eat actually has a huge impact
on how hungry we are. This means we can actually
control our appetite to some degree, and we can do so through managing our
hunger-regulating hormones through what I'll call the 3
Pillars of Appetite Control. One, blood sugar management, two, slow-absorbing foods, and three, healthful behaviors. Stabilizing your blood
sugar is the fastest way to real in and out of control appetite. When your blood sugar is stable, free from huge peaks and valleys, the result is sustained energy and a better connection
with your real hunger cues. The hormone insulin is
the major determinant of how stable your blood sugar is. The more insulin your body
releases in response to a meal, the more unstable your blood sugar will be and the faster you'll feel hungry. Insulin has been called
the fat storage hormone but more accurately its
job is to direct energy from the food you've eaten
into your cells for fuel. It's released in response and
even in anticipation of meals in varying degrees depending
on your individual body and the macronutrient you're eating. Sugar and refined carbohydrates result in a massive insulin
response from our bodies, and this effect is amplified if we pair them with little
to no other macronutrients. These foods were not
available to our ancestors, so it's a little bit unnatural
for us to be eating them especially in the quantities
and formats that we do today. When we eat foods like this
they are digested so quickly that they produce such a
massive insulin response that too much of our
available calories get forced into our fat cells for storage. When this happens, not enough calories remain
circulating in our blood to be used as energy by our body. Without available energy, our body cranks up the demand for food and turns down our desire to move so that we conserve energy, meaning we're hungry again
faster than we should be and the food we just ate
has been turned into fat even though we needed it
available in the blood for energy. Refined carbs equal white
bread, pastas, white rice, and the most-refined
carbohydrate of all, table sugar. If you're wanting to feel fuller longer, consider these foods your worst enemies. They're absorbed so quickly by our bodies that they send our insulin
and blood sugar skyrocketing, only to come crashing back down, leaving us prematurely hungry, unable to focus and sometimes
shaky and irritable too. Interestingly many people start their day with this energy
roller-coaster all the time. The most popular breakfast foods are mostly refined carbs after all. People have different insulin
responses to different foods. Studies have shown that some
lucky people can eat a cupcake and get only a moderate insulin response, while others get a
massive insulin response from even slow-digesting carbs. You really have to pay attention
to how foods make you feel. Everybody reacts differently
to different foods. I can't emphasize this enough. For a general idea of how
different carbs are likely to affect blood sugar levels, we can take a look at the glycemic index which I'll link below. Not surprisingly, the research
says that the consumption of anything listed as
a High GI carbohydrate may increase hunger and promote overeating relative to the consumption
of items with a lower GI. Pillar number 1 manage your blood sugar by staying away from refined
carbs and simple sugars. If you find it really hard
to give up refined carbs while on a diet, remember
that you don't have to. You can lose weight
just counting calories, but you're gonna have a much
easier time sticking to a diet if you're not starving all the time, and your blood sugar levels will be stable so you should feel a lot better
and more energized as well. If you are going to eat them, try pairing them with another nutrient and sticking with smaller quantities. This will slow down your
digestion a little bit and is healthier for
your metabolism overall. Again, you may just be one of those people who only has a mild insulin response to refined carbohydrates, but generally feelings of hunger and issues with body weight
are indications otherwise. But again, everybody is totally different, so you really have to pay
attention to how you feel. Pillar 2, slow-absorbing
foods, protein, fiber. So what should we eat then? Well, basically the
opposite of refined carbs. Foods that digest slowly
produce stable blood sugar, long-lasting energy, a
reduced insulin response, and also impact our
hunger-regulating hormones in a positive way. Starting with protein, protein is the most
difficult macronutrient for the body to break down,
so it takes the longest. In a quote taken directly
from ScienceDirect, "Many studies show "that dietary protein is the
most satiating macronutrient, "since protein may affect appetite "by its involvement with
appetite-regulating hormones." Glucagon and peptide YY are
two key hormones impacted by protein intakes. Glucagon is the inverse
hormone to insulin. It's released when blood
sugar levels become low and it helps us pull fat out from storage to be used as fuel. Meanwhile, peptide YY is similar to leptin in that it tells our
brain we're not hungry and is linked to a decreased
motivation toward food. Researchers studying
adolescent girls found that a high protein
breakfast not only resulted in greater feelings of
fullness throughout the day, but a reduction in evening
snacking compared to controls. Increasing protein to 30% of
your daily total caloric intake has been shown in a ton
of different studies to reduce calories consumed over the course of the day overall. I've just included the one
study, but there are a ton, and honestly in nutritional
science it's very, not rare, but it's not often that
there's so much of a consensus that doing something will
get a certain result. So I'm very confident in telling you that if you increase your protein intake, you will feel more satiated. Fiber, fiber promotes fullness in a bunch of different
and beneficial ways. First it slows the absorption of nutrients into our bloodstream. It's the reason high fiber
fruits and vegetables with low carbohydrates don't impact our blood sugar the way
fiberless refined carbs do. Second, the volume of food we
eat at a meal impacts satiety both psychologically and physically through stomach stretch receptors that sense when we have
enough food in our bellies. Even the increased degree
of chewing required to eat foods high in fiber has been shown to increase perceived fullness. Studies show that fiber increases
satiety, decreases hunger, and reduces daily overall caloric intake. Fiber is also digested in the deeper chambers of our intestines. Refined carbs are broken
down in the first chamber while fiber makes it all the way through, stimulating peptide YY
and cholecystokinin, two key hormones that
tell us we are not hungry, in the process. Interestingly in patients who
have gastric bypass surgery, those who have a type called Roux-en-Y typically experience the most weight loss. Hey guys, sorry I messed this part up. So I forgot to mention that the reason that patients experience more
weight loss with Roux-en-Y as opposed to other types
of weight loss surgery is because the stomach is reconfigured so that food misses the first part of the small intestine completely and is instead digested
in the deeper layers. This is really similar
to what happens to us when we eat fiber, so
that's why this bit is here. This is thought to be the result of key changes in their
hunger hormones stemming from this deeper intestinal digestion, the same hunger hormones
that we can stimulate through a healthy intake of fiber. So I just thought that was an
interesting and useful point. Pillar 3, healthful behaviors, sleep, exercise, stress management. To get the most out of
the other two pillars, you should also engage in other
keystone healthy behaviors, adequate sleep, regular
exercise, and stress management. If you don't, it's really like
fighting an uphill battle. Our overall health and our
body weight are linked, and our hunger hormones
are one of the key pathways that this occurs through. Sleep, inadequate sleep
massively affects our hormones, and in particular those involved
with metabolism and hunger. As a result, studies show that individuals running
on less than six hours of sleep per night
report an increased sense of overall hunger and an attraction to high carb, high calorie foods. Lack of sleep directly impacts the hunger
hormones leptin and ghrelin, decreasing leptin and increasing ghrelin. So if you've ever found
yourself hungry all day for no particular reason, not enough or poor quality
sleep may be to blame. Poor quality sleep has been called a potent
psychological stressor, and as a result, also increases the
stress hormone cortisol. Stress in our lives
expresses itself internally largely through cortisol, which has far-reaching effects on our health far beyond waking, but we limit the discussion
to appetite here. Cortisol increases reported food cravings and overall intake of high calorie foods, which seem to truly
offer a comforting effect through the release of
feel good serotonin. It's helpful to realize that, you know, although we don't have
control over the stressors that might pop up in our lives, we do control our stress response and how we react to those
stressors internally. Worrying about past or potential events for example is something that
we do have total control over. A lot of people don't realize
that indulging in these types of negative thoughts is a choice, and although it can be extremely difficult especially at first, we are in control, and we can choose not to engage with these types of thoughts. Meditation is a great way to work on your relationship
with your thoughts and how you think about them, something called metacognition. Exercise, exercise is also a great way to lower your cortisol while at the same time providing some other hunger hormone benefits. It's been shown to decrease
levels of circulating ghrelin while increasing peptide YY and resistin. In one study overweight adolescents were put on an aerobic
workout program for 32 weeks. The researchers found that exercise training increased total PYY and decreased resistin. These are favorable changes, as PYY plays a role in
decreasing appetite, and resistin is linked
to insulin resistance. It should be noted also that the exercise appetite
link is somewhat controversial, and in some people some types of exercise might actually induce hunger. Controlling your appetite or
suppressing your hunger sounds like some sort of like
sketchy diet ad benefit, but all the tips I've given you today actually make you healthier. They're improving your metabolic health so you can get in touch
with your real hunger cues and feel more satisfied
with what you're eating. If your blood sugar is all over the place, if your hormones are out of control because of what you're eating, not gonna feel good and it
can be hard to stick to a diet if you're essentially fighting
your biology the whole way. Thank you guys so much
for watching this video. I hope you enjoyed it, and next week I am finally ready with my "Foodie Beauty" video. So I think it's one of my
favorite ones I've made to date, so I'm really excited to show you guys and I hope everyone is safe and doing well during
this really crazy time.
