Can We Deceive Our Stomachs That We Are Not Hungry?
Author: Victoria Aly
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
When we want to lose weight, we must convince ourselves that everything we consume is high in calories. That way we can suppress our appetite.
When we want to lose weight, we must convince ourselves that everything we consume is high in calories. In this way we could reduce the levels of the hormone responsible for the feeling of hunger and suppress our appetite.
A team of scientists from Yale University, led by Alia Kram, conducted a study among 46 volunteers in good health. The researchers gave participants a milkshake that contained 380 calories. However, some participants were told that the drink was low in calories, and others that it contained a large amount of calories.
Experts also measured ghrelin levels among participants before and after drinking the milkshake. Ghrelin is a hormone that is released in our stomach when we are hungry. The results show that its levels rise half an hour before a meal and recover after the end of the meal.
In volunteers who thought they were consuming a high-calorie beverage, the researchers found a significant rise in ghrelin levels, compared to those who said the calories in the milkshake were low.
According to experts, only when we think that we are eating unhealthy foods, we could "deceive" our stomach and thus suppress hunger. The findings could serve as a measure against obesity.
Endocrinologist David Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle explains that food labels could affect consumer consumption.
The study is published in Health Psychology .
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