Let’s chat about how your hunger hormones may be the reason you never feel full
I always talk about the FreshFitnFIVE, but I never want y’all to blindly be following ANYTHING, because there is a LOT of bad info online these days. So today I wanted to chat about our hunger hormones, how our diet can affect our appetite, & break down the WHY behind the #freshfitnFIVE.
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Your Hunger Hormones & the FreshFitnFIVE
Have you ever gone too long without eating only to feel like you can’t stop eating even after you’re full? Or have you ever felt this intense craving for just carbs? Or do you feel like your appetite is never ending? It could be that you’re not eating the right kind of meals/snacks to balance those hunger hormones! I created the FreshFitnFIVE to balance your hunger hormones and assist you to create meals which fuel you & help you feel your best! Check out my entire blog post on the FreshFitnFIVE here!
You’ve probably heard me mention the FreshFitnFIVE by now. If you haven’t it’s the 5 ingredients I tell all my clients to include in every meal in order to stay full, curb cravings, an increase your energy. FreshFitnFIVE includes: protein, healthy fat, smart carb, fiber, and boosts. A boost is a way to boost the flavor in a natural way using seasonings, spices, and juices instead of sugary or high fat sauces. With that being said we have 5 things we should include in every meal, and for snacks we should include 2 or 3 things.
When you’re eating a snack we don’t want just a carb even if its a healthy carb such as an apple because it’s just going to quickly digest and cause a spike in blood sugar followed by a drop. You always want to pair carbs with a healthy fat or protein, or just combine a protein with a healthy fat for a snack. I really want to break down all the hunger hormones, how they’re affected, and what they do in you body. Just to give you an overall education on why the FreshFitnFIVE is so important!!
Ghrelin: Hunger Hormone
Ghrelin is released when the stomach is empty and stops when stomach is stretched. But heres the thing, in research sometimes ghrelin doesn’t decreases in obese patients — meaning your brain never signals to stop eating. Therefore they don’t get the fullness cue from their body to stop eating.
Eating with our hunger hormone in mind: We can avoid refined/processed carbs and sugars, especially sugary drinks that don’t stretch your stomach lining which prevents ghrelin from turning off. What really helps this hormone shut off when appropriate is anything that’s going to stretch the stomach lining meaning voluminous foods. Eat protein at every meal for satiety. Eat a lot of fiber (bulk → stretching of stomach lining). This is why I included protein and fiber in the freshfitnFIVE! This is also why if you eat a lot of processed food such as M&M’s you’re going to eat a lot and not feel full because its not going to stretch your stomach lining. So really try to focus your meals on getting a ton of volume in with veggies, fiber, and some good protein.
Leptin: Satiety Hormone
Meaning when it comes on its like “Alright I’m good you can stop eating now I’m full” It’s produced by fat cells, and notifies the hypothalamus (brain) that there is enough fat in storage and it prevents you from overeating. BUT Leptin resistance can happen when impaired signaling doesn’t trigger brain to calm hunger hormones. So how can we avoid leptin resistance and make sure our leptin is turning on at the right time so that we dont overeat?
We want to avoid inflammatory foods like seed oils, and focusing on omega 3’s. We want to get good sleep because sleep deprivation is linked to drops in leptin levels. Also, exercise increases leptin sensitivity, meaning when you exercise you are more likely to not overeat!
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1): This Is The “Full Hormone”
This is Produced and released when food enters intestines to tell us we are full and that no more eating is needed! BUT Chronic inflammation reduces the production making you always feel hungry.
How to balance this hormone: avoid inflammatory foods, take probiotics because this hormone resides in this intestines, eat meals high in proteins because that increases GLP-1 production, and eat meals high in green veggies which will also increase GLP-1.
PYY: Peptide YY
This Control hormone is in the GI tract and it reduces appetite. BUT Sometimes you can experience impaired production of PYY.
Balanced blood sugar increases this PYY response and production. What do I mean by balanced blood sugar? Pairing the carbs with proteins and fats, not just eating carbs by themselves. Carbs quickly digest, they’ll spike your blood sugar and then drop it. Versus if you pair a carb with a fat or protein then it’s going to slowly break down, release, and you’ll have stable blood sugar levels. This Is why I encourage combining 2 or 3 in the freshfitnFIVE! Also protein-based meals increase PYY concentration, and fiber increases PYY production.
Neuropeptide Y (NYP): The Carb Stimulate Hormone
This hormone in brain and nervous system stimulates the appetite for wanting to eat carbs. So what can induce the production of NYP? Well…Stress can induce the production of NYP that leads to stimulation and overeating. Fasting/food deprivation and/or lack of protein can also stimulate this hormone.
So what can we do to support this hormones? We need to manage our stress, and eat more frequently. Also make sure you’re getting enough protein!
Cortisol: Stress Hormone
Is produced by adrenals when the body senses stress. We always have some kinda stress, even working out is a stress to our body but what’s not so great is chronically elevated levels of cortisol meaning it never decreases. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol lead to overeating and weight gain. High levels of cortisol are also linked to belly fat. This is one of the reasons I always talk about how important it is to manage our stress!
Manage your stress levels whether thats with meditation, prayer, movement, or good sleep. You can ask for help when needed, surround yourself with people that make you happy, and we can eat balanced meals with protein, fat, fiber, veggies the freshfitnFIVE!!!
The FreshFitnFIVE is super simple! I teach this all in my nutrition guide, and every recipe in my guide is FreshFitnFIVE approved! Check out my new nutrition guide here!
Let me know if this helps and if you enjoy the more sciencey why behind things! I want to see your FreshFitnFIVE creations! Tag me on you insta story @sarahgracemeck!
