Have you met Leptin and Ghrelin?
They sound like a pair of twins. (Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum) In fact, they are to a certain extent. They go hand in hand although opposite each other, yet when they come to a balanced relationship it could spell a great difference in our wellness goals — especially with regulating appetite and metabolism
The first time I’ve heard of Leptin and Ghrrrr..(who?!), I was excited to learn who/what these are and how they play a role in achieving balanced hormones.
Ghrelin is the body’s ‘hunger’ hormone, is produced in the cells of our stomach, and induces hunger. Leptin is the hormone responsible for satiety, is produced by the fat tissue cells, triggering the brain to say “stop eating” once the fat cells are fed.
Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you “you’re hungry, eat something”.it makes your GRow. Leptin, on the other hand, tells you “You’re no longer hungry, you can stop now. You’re good!” It makes you LEan. All good, right?
Well, all is good when our bodies are functioning optimally. The problem happens when these hormones no longer begin to work the way they should.
What could happen?
If Leptin is elevated and is produced constantly, our brain believes the body is not hungry and may starve without knowing it. On the other side, if Leptin is too little, the brain and body will never be satisfied and will continue to keep eating.
If Ghrelin is elevated our brain triggers increased food intake and the body will keep eating, which leads to promoting fat storage. If Ghrelin is deficiently functioning, the brain and body will never be hungry, leading to poor nutrition and starvation.
Several years ago, I always believed that eating less was the basis of a good diet. I experienced unwanted and unexpected effects of under-eating and overexercising. Little did I know that I was causing harm to my hunger-satiety hormones. I forced myself to ignore the hunger signs of ghrelin by not eating anything at all, till my head hurt and I felt nauseated. In the beginning, I thought they were just cravings, which they were, but since I kept ignoring the ghrelin. And because of overexercising, higher levels of cortisol (our stress hormone), I wasn’t hungry either.
You would think I was on the right track with weight loss. But it was actually the opposite. I was creating a false signal to my brain and that sent false messages to the rest of my body. I ended up storing more fat when I allowed myself to eat. Not a good thing, because as leptins decrease, the ghrelin takes over big time. So even if I tried to eat less and less, I was still craving and wanting the wrong foods, even more, every time I would eat. I wasn’t getting the right nutrition. My body kept feeding my fat cells more and more, to prepare itself for another ‘starvation period’. By this time, my body wasn’t listening to my leptin hormones and created resistance to it.
What causes the imbalance of these hormones?
Our daily modern lifestyle habits have become ingrained so that our body has turned ‘resistant’ to the signals of our hormones.
- The frequency of our meals/snacking — too frequent or too and far between affect negatively.
- The lack of or extreme daily movement/ exercise has limited other hormones that also affect the brain. This leaves Leptin and Ghrelin confused as well. An example is having more cravings when you haven’t had any exercise all-day, or extreme exercise leaves no room for appetite to trigger.
- Consumption of fast (overly processed) foods
- Stress
- Poor sleep and rest periods
- pollutants in the environment
All these build up and trigger hormone imbalance. And Leptin and Ghrelin are the most affected.
Is it possible to achieve balance?
It’s a complicated story, really, the cycle and Leptin and Ghrelin and how they inhibit or promote certain hormones, such as Insulin, Cortisol, sex hormones, and how our entire body functions because of these.
The key is to get our bodies and minds into a state of balance — a fresh state to have these hormones ‘reset’ and to get themselves functioning and working their ‘magic’ on us. It will take time and effort of mindfulness in the food we eat, the movements/ exercise we do, the rest and sleep that we have, and the environment that we put ourselves in.
If you’d like to learn more about how to attain Correct Hormone Balance, we’d like to invite you to explore our FYFG Signature programs. Schedule a 1-on-1 call with us!