Article

Strategies for Achieving Satiety

Published on Friday, July 08, 2022
by Alexander Koch

Health & Wellness

Where does hunger come from?

Hunger is a primal drive – motivating the vital behavior of fueling our bodies. Evidence of hunger’s importance to survival lies in its complexity. The hunger we feel comes from the interaction of a whole array of chemical messengers that are released from various tissues throughout our bodies.

These messengers, a mix of hormones and neurotransmitters, act on receptors in various regions of the brain. The interaction between hormones or neurotransmitters and their receptors alters mood states and behavior, either increasing or decreasing the sensation of hunger.

Two of the most important hormones involved in appetite regulation are leptin and Ghrelin.

Leptin is a hormone that is produced by fat cells. Leptin gets its name from the Greek word Leptos, which means “thin”. When released from fat cells, leptin acts on the brain to reduce the sensation of hunger and prevent overeating. In a perfect world, leptin helps regulate the amount of body fat we carry, where a loss of fat mass would reduce leptin levels, prompting us to eat and gain body fat. Following this, leptin levels would increase, and our hunger would dissipate.

Ghrelin is released from the stomach and acts on the brain to increase the sensation of hunger, promoting eating. Ghrelin levels increase when the stomach is empty and promote the sensation of hunger. The most common known genetic cause of life-threatening obesity is Prader-Willi Syndrome, in which patients suffer from abnormally high levels of ghrelin and a consequent ravenous hunger.

What to eat?

Modern conveniences are great, but they also pose novel health risks. With the relative ease of obtaining tasty, energy-dense foods, we have an unprecedented rise in obesity in the developed world. Our hunger-sensing system is challenged by the modern abundance of high-calorie foods.

For example, the leptin system should prevent us from overeating - if we have higher levels of body fat, our leptin levels should rise, and our appetite should be reduced. However, diets high in carbohydrates (particularly the sugars sucrose and fructose) and fat increase the risk of leptin resistance.

Leptin resistance means that, despite having adequate levels of leptin in the bloodstream, the receptors for leptin are unable to sufficiently process it, so the sensation of satiety is not easily achieved.

The release of ghrelin is triggered by a lower volume of food in the stomach. Due to processing, many modern foods are softer and easier to chew and swallow, allowing us to eat and swallow at faster speeds than our ancestors did. Consequently, these foods pass through the stomach quickly, leading to higher ghrelin levels throughout the day. The result: we feel hungrier and eat more.

So what can we eat to counteract this? Two major food components that help promote satiety are protein and fiber. Protein plays a vital role in nutrition, serving as a building block for many essential components of our bodies and as an energy source. Meat, eggs, fish, and poultry are well-recognized protein sources, but vegetable protein sources are also readily available.

Fiber aids digestion, provides bulk to our food and to our stools, and (soluble fiber) can improve our blood cholesterol levels. Fiber is found in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. Both protein and fiber are relatively slow to digest. Thus, food remains in our stomach for longer, and the release of ghrelin is diminished.

How to eat?

In two words: slow down! It is not just a matter of what you eat, but how you eat as well! Specifically, you have the ability to eat faster than it takes for the sensation of satiety to kick in. Unless you are actively trying to gain weight, you should not use this power! Eating slowly can raise levels of several other peripheral hormones (peptide YY and GLP-1) that promote satiety.

Beyond the role of hormones, there is also evidence that slowing your eating rate can simply heighten your attentiveness to eating, leading to greater awareness of the act of eating and increased satiety through that mechanism.

We are capable of eating much faster than we need to. For perspective, world-champion eater Joey Chestnut can eat 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes (which contain enough calories to feed an average adult for 10 days). To avoid overeating, chew your food completely. Swallow each bite before you take the next. Put your fork down between bites. All of these strategies can prolong your eating time and increase feelings of satiety.

Summary

Hunger is complex, and though I mentioned two of the hormones responsible for regulating our hunger levels, they are only a glimpse into the intricate regulation of this vital sensation. Research on the complex world of hunger and satiety is ongoing, and some of the chemical messengers that regulate our hunger responses have been discovered only in the last 10 years!

My best advice on achieving satiety or managing hunger, based on what we know, is as follows:

Eat high protein foods- meat, fish, poultry, tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt, nuts
Eat high-fiber foods – leafy greens, whole grains, vegetables, fruits
Eat slowly- chew your food completely and swallow before taking another bite

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