Recently, I was looking at an old copy of Prevention Magazine. (January '03). A small article caught my eye called "Science Finds the "Feed Me" Hormone.

This hormone is called ghrelin (pron "gree-lin"). It actually stimulate hunger and can cause the yo-yo effect that makes people lose and gain weight. (I know that I have a much bigger appetite than my DH!).

I started looking on the internet to see if there was a way of counteracting ghrelin and found this article http://www.40-40-20.com/nutrition/le...rhormone-alert.

Basically, it says that grazing (eating 5-6 small balanced meals a day) and not allowing yourself to get hungry is the way to prevent ghrelin from kicking in.

Since I have a problem with hunger a lot and couldn't figure out why (my DD thinks I should allow myself to get hungry more to allow my stomach to shrink), this could be an answer. I hope the information helps you too!

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Ilse

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Hmmmm. Very interesting indeed. I also did a web search about ghrelin and found this.

Now, if only I could trick my mind into thinking that NOT being hungry is a good thing. Sometimes my mind thinks that if I'm hungry -- or just slightly hungry -- that I'm better off in my weight-loss efforts. I'm still trying to "eat only when hungry" and then only until I'm not hungry any longer. It seems to be working so far.

I think that's considered "grazing", and may be unwittingly helping in controlling ghrelin.

Thank you for your post, Ilse. It's the catalyst for more research on my part.

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April

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Thanks Ilse! Very interesting. I've alway known that If I go for more than 5 hours without eating I'll eat everything in sight. But every 2 to 3 hours is a new concept to me. Maybe I should do what I sometimes do at dinner, and eat a salad an hour before each meal. Or add in a snack midway between lunch and dinner. Thing is I don't like to eat after dinner and dinner is around 6 pm for me most nights.

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April, I had found that article too. Also, one from about.com in their thyroid section.

I have tried eating where frequent meals are part of the program. I problem I found with that was the amount of effort to make the meals throughout the day. I don't usually cook large quantities of food at a time, so I have something ready to grab. As a result, I found the frequent eating very time-consuming, as far as preparing balance meals. (I did lose weight that way!) Also, I when I am out with my DH, I have a problem with the frequent meals, as his stomach is completely on a different schedule than mine. I am raring to go and he could go several more hours without food. This was a particular problem on vacation. I haven't found a solution to this. I tried protein bars, but felt like I was eating too many of them (2 at a time); more like candy.

Sometimes I make a huge quantity of cabbage soup (red, green, chinese cabbges, along with celery, bok choy, broccoli slaw, whatever lc veggies look good). I sometime make it with meat and eat lots of it whenever I get hungry. It is quite low in calories and tastes good. That makes it easier to eat whenever I want to.

There are some meals that "stay" for hours. I found that if I split an order of sushi (6 total for me) along with 2 breaded pork cutlets, salad & dressing, a bit of raw cabbage, maybe some steamed rice, I can eat this at 10 or 10:30am and not be hungry again until maybe 5pm or so. If I skip the sushi, I get hungrier sooner. I haven't figured that one out yet.

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Ilse

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I guess you could call me a grazer, and that the article fairly represents how I generally eat. It's part of the Zone philosophy anyway to eat more frequent meals and snacks for better control of insulin and blood sugar levels. That alone helps to control appetite, and if it controls ghrelin, so much the better.

Part of the philosophy, too, is to never let yourself get physically hungry--the rational being that by the time you actually feel physical hunger, your blood sugar has already dropped too low, and the tendency is to overeat as Rob and I both experience, the excess of which is stored as fat. Again, ghrelin may also be part of the picture now. (An aside--it's also possible, according some , that we really can't metabolize much more than about 500 calories worth (however you choose to count it) at a time, anyway, or a volume much more than our own cupped hands. More than that calls out the fat storage team....)

I do think if anyone is considering grazing, it's important that each mini-meal or snack be balanced, too. A fruit snack alone, for example, is not going to be good for your insulin or your hunger levels. And if there's any doubt about under or over doing it, or meeting your nutritional goals, tracking might be helpful until you establish a pattern.

Ilse, your sushi experience is interesting. Some combinations do seem to work better than others for a specific individual. Making note of the ones that are more satifying at others is really helpful. I can have two snacks, for example, with exactly the same number of grams of fat, carb, and protein, and one will last 1 1/2 hours and one will last three under the same conditions.

I will say that another trick can make a big difference in feeling satisfied, and that's the old warning most of our Moms' probably gave us. "SLOW DOWN" Chewing slower and more thoroughly does two things. First, it allows for the time it takes the hunger hormones, whatever they all are, to react to the fact that they are being satisfied--which I understand is about 20 minutes. The old trick of putting your fork down between each bite sounds silly, but it works, even if it does take away from some of the oral pleasure most of us get from the act of consumption. The other advantage is that if we take more time to thoroughly chew food, we will have less digestive upsets, and be able to assimilate more of the nutrients we've eaten. Digestion starts in the mouth with the enzymes secreted there. The tummy can work with smaller particles much more easily for digestion and assimilation.

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

You're right on target with that. For the past few weeks I've purposely slowed down while eating because I want to stop eating when I'm almost comfortably full. The only way for me to do that is NOT to eat everything on my plate and to actually slow down and "listen" to my body and stop eating when I have cessation of hunger.

Now, as for this grazing thing; I was conducting an expriment with myself to eat only when actual hunger strikes. But, I've modified that now. I have found that actually waiting for the hunger pangs really isn't a good thing since, like you said, that's when the blood sugar has already dropped. This past weekend I ate a slice of cheese or half a cucumber just in anticipation of having hunger set in. I grazed thusly and made sure I stopped grazing when I didn't need any more food.

Just my thoughts. I tend to ramble.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

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I know I tend to wolf down my food. Sometimes I try to eat with chopsticks. I am not that good with them and I figure it slows me down.

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Ilse

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April, if my experience is any indication, you are on the right track. I do try to make sure each of my little snacks has a bit each of protein, carb, and fat when possible. If I have to pick only one, I'll generally have a protein snack. A little cheese is good since it usually has all three.


Ilse, it might be an interesting experiment to *really* slow down your eating and see what happens. The advice Michael Murray gives in my Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine is to chew every bite until it goes down by itself before taking another one. That's amazing hard to do. If I had to rely on chopsticks, I'd probably starve

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

I used to use that chopstick trick. I can use them with difficulty and it definitely slows me down. Like Ilse I eat way too quickly. I had a friend who used to like to "prep" thje meals she ate. That might include cutting up her meat ahead of time, putting ketchup or condiments on her food or whatever. I was usually finished my meal before she started hers. LOl! I tried eating the mid day snack yesterday and it worked somewhat. I was able to put dinner off until 7:15. Oddly I found that I was more hungry this morning than usual. Isn't that odd considering I had eaten 90 mins later than usual??

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Rob, I'd guess you were on a different place on the hunger signal curve. If you think of it as a bell curve, your body signals hunger and the signals get stronger and stronger, but they do peak, begin to dissapate, and will eventually disappear if you don't eat. Along with that, your blood sugar levels will be in a different part of their curve, too. That's about all I can come up with.

What is your concern about having an after dinner snack?

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

Thanks, That makes sense.

I just don't Like eating too close to bedtime. I read that you shouldn't eat within 3 hours of going to bed. Though I will occasionally have a few strawberries and a cube of cheese just before bed.

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I think that's what most of us learned about eating before bed. I've adopted the zone guideline of having a small, planned snack every night and have really found it helpful. It's recommended for two reasons---The body does most of its growth and repair at night. A balanced snack, like your cheese and strawberries, makes sure some nutrients are available. It also means your blood sugar levels will probably not drop quite as low overnight.

Of course, the trick is "small" and "planned" but looking forward to my snack has really kept me from ingaging in the mindless fridge surfing I'm prone to when I get too hungry. The other thing that's important for me is timing--about 1 to 1-1/2 hours before bed seems to be the best for not having any digestive heaviness overnight. Works for me since we tend to eat early.

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

april... i found that article very interesting... do you think you would like to post it in the regular LC ongoiing , newbie and 100 threads? in case they dont normally read this thread? it sure made alot of sense to me...

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BC - I've been including a light snack within 90 minutes of bedtime, like a cube of cheese and/or allowed fruit, for the past couple/few days. I do notice a few things. First - I'm not as hungry, second I sleep a bit better, third my calories are down for the day by several hundred. It's probably too soon to tell if this is a result of the late snack but it's encouraging.

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Rob,

It's interesting that the snack seems to be helping!

I made up LC soup, so I can eat whenever I want without guilt.

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Ilse

380/286(current)/154
5'6"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney