Control Hunger to Lose Fat

Do you ever feel like your appetite is insatiable? Often this is because of a hormone called Ghrelin that is out of whack. Ghrelin, appropriately known as the hunger hormone, can be impacted by not only what you eat and when you eat, but also a few key lifestyle habits. So with that said, let’s make sure you’re doing everything right to keep Ghrelin at bay instead of making it spike.

1. Fill your belly on low calorie foods. Ghrelin has a counterpart called Leptin that plays a key role in satiety. When Leptin is up Ghrelin is down and vice versa. One of the ways leptin is released is when our stomachs expand. For this reason, you want to fill your stomach up on what’s called high volume foods that are low in calories. High volume – meaning they take up a lot of space in your tummy, but don’t contain a lot of energy. One of the best ways to do this is by consuming unlimited non-starchy vegetables. These are loaded with nutrients and fiber, but low in calories making them a great way to feel full without tipping the scale.
2. Consider a fiber supplement. Speaking of volume… taking a fiber supplement before lunch or dinner will fill you up and cause you to consume less because of it. Psyllium husks are incredibly cheap and super effective at getting this done. Just make sure to drink a lot of water with it.
3. Take Krill Oil and ALA. Several studies have shown that taking these two supplements can help support healthy leptin levels, which in turn keeps ghrelin in check allowing us to feel fuller for longer. Alaya Naturals is my go-to brand.
4. Hydrate. Often when we are dehydrated we feel fatigued and our bodies can release more ghrelin thinking if we eat a spike in blood sugar will perk us up. So make sure to hydrate. There is no set amount of water you should be consuming daily as everyones needs are different. The key is to drink water until your pee looks like lemonade. If it looks dark keep drinking.
5. Eat every 3 to four hours to stabilize blood sugar. When our blood sugar dips we are obviously going to feel hungry, causing us to overeat when we eventually do eat. So make sure you avoid skipping meals.
6. Have animal protein in every meal has been shown to prolong ghrelin suppression and is known as the most satiating of the macro nutrients (protein, fat, and carbs).
7. Get your shut eye. Sleep has a massive impact on our health overall – for better or for worse - especially with regard to weight management. When we don’t get the right amount of sleep (7 to 8 hours a night) it throws off our ghrelin and leptin levels. Lack of sleep boosts ghrelin and cortisol and the appropriate amount of sleep will have the opposite effect helping to boost leptin and HGH to decrease hunger and burn more fat.
8. Avoid processed grains and refined sugars (white flour and white sugar) as often as possible. These foods break down very quickly in our bodies creating an insulin spike, which quickly clears sugar out of the blood subsequently creating a sugar crash making us hungry again shortly after we eat. Instead, opt for foods in their most whole and natural form.