Sometimes I get the feeling of hunger, but when I wait it out without eating, the painful feeling subsides. Why does this feeling of hunger go away without actually eating anything? Obviously I eventually get hungry again and eat, but I’m wondering why this brief feeling of “okay-ness” occurs.
In: Biology
The hormone that regulates hunger is called ghrelin. It comes and goes throughout the day, and usually spikes around the times your body is accustomed to consuming foods. If you eat 3 times a day: morning, noon, evening, then your body will release ghrelin around those times to signal to your body that it’s time to eat. What’s interesting is, whether you eat or not, ghrelin will cease production after some time and your hunger will subside until it disappears completely.
That is also actually the basis behind intermittent fasting and why it works: you essentially train your body to release ghrelin later in the day, and only within a specific feeding window. It’s crazy to think that humans train themselves to get hungry at specific times throughout the day, when we’ve been taught since we were young that eating breakfast, lunch and dinner is “THE” proper eating plan.
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