Hunger Games: Is Ghrelin the Supervillain in Weight Gain?

From Your Weight Matters magazine, Fall, 2011: Ghrelin, "the hunger hormone," stimulates a desire to eat in humans. Leptin, ghrelin’s "partner" hormone, stimulates a sense of satiety or being full. So, it’s easy to portray ghrelin and leptin as the bad and good guy in the never-ending battle for control of your weight. But is the story as easy as that? In fact, while both hormones play key roles in weight regulation, the relationship between ghrelin, leptin and weight is more complex than bad versus good. Consider, for example, that ghrelin levels in people affected by obesity are lower than those in people with leaner bodies. In addition, people with anorexia have higher levels of ghrelin that people of normal weight. Find out more about the complicated role ghrelin plays in weight management and the facts we can be sure of in an article from Your Weight Matters magazine here.

Authors: Ted Kyle, RPh, MBA, and William Hignett, MPH