The Hunger Hormone

Day 170 / 365

For most of the years that human beings have been on this earth, getting food to eat was not a certainty. This is why through evolution our body developed the mechanism of storing fats which can be used as an energy source in the future. Now clearly our bodies have plenty of fat stored away, then why do we feel hungry every day?

As is the case with a lot of things we feel, the feeling of hunger is caused by the secretion of a hormone called Ghrelin. Ghrelin is generally secreted at regular times during the day based on your eating habits. So if you generally have lunch at 1 PM, you will begin to feel hungry around that time each day.

Short Term and Long Term Energy

When we eat food, the body uses the carbs out of what we have eaten to produce short-term energy. This short-term energy is available for use for a 6–8 hour period. After this, all the leftover energy is converted into stored long-term energy which is fat.

You know how sometimes you might be feeling hungry but you can’t get anything to eat. If you don’t eat for some time then, or maybe just fill up with some water, you might have noticed that your hunger die’s down.

This is because getting energy out of stored fats is a longer process. When your body runs out of short-term energy, you start feeling hungry. But if you can’t get anything to eat for a while, eventually your body would start burning the fat to fulfill it’s energy needs and you will stop feeling hungry. This is the concept used in ‘Intermittent Fasting’, where people have a small window during the day, usually 10 hours when they are allowed to eat food.

While Fasting has many benefits, the results might vary from person to person. It’s best to consult an expert to know what’s best for you.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — Never skip twice