What is ghrelin? And why is it the enemy when we diet?

Have you ever decided to start a diet? You get a few days in, all is going well - you've had all your meals for the day and you settle down on the couch in the evening to chill...when you realise you are hungry. VERY hungry... so hungry that you go to the cupboard, make yourself a sandwich, eat it and tell yourself you'll just start the diet again tomorrow. Only to repeat the process again a few days later.

Our body has a 'set-point' where it likes to comfortably sit. If our body fat drops, our body will try to balance the set-point back out - we will feel hungrier to eat more and put the lost fat back on. Our body has one sole purpose: to survive. If our body feels threatened, it will do what it feels it needs to do, to survive. Which is why we have ghrelin. Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) stimulates our appetite, to increase food intake and promote fat storage. Ghrelin is one of many hormones which are impacted due to dieting and calorie deficits, but also as a result of poor sleep and acute or chronic stress levels.

Ghrelin works with leptin (satiety hormone) to manage our energy balance - the calories we consume in relation to our TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). When daily consumption is below TDEE (you are in a deficit) you may experience negative adaptations as a result. As ghrelin increases your hunger and cravings will also increase. Leptin levels will drop, leading to lower satiety after meals. This increase in hunger will ultimately become a challenge and is the reason why dieting can be so difficult to sustain. The reality is, fat loss will involve hunger. At some point, you will need to just learn to deal with being hungry. It's uncomfortable, annoying, and super hard to manage at times - but, it is part of the process. In order to succeed in a diet, time will become your best friend! The more time you give yourself, the less aggressive you will need to go when dropping your calories. The more conservative the approach, the less likely you will be to experience negative adaptations and the easier it will be to manage changes in your ghrelin (hunger). More food means you can balance your meals for better satiety. More aggressive approaches, less food and very low calories will also mean a very quick increase in hunger. When we work with clients on a fat-loss journey, we aim for more time, higher calories when dieting, and frequent diet-breaks and refeeds to increase leptin and decrease ghrelin!

Along with calorie intake, sleep and stress will also impact your hunger hormones. When you are not getting enough (or adequate) sleep, or if you are experiencing acute and chronic stress, this will lead to an elevation of ghrelin, a drop in leptin and a challenge on compliance!

We recommend an evening ritual to help you unwind and calm the mind before bed. Aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. If stressed, we recommend stress management protocols; try journalling, meditation, listening to podcasts or your favourite music or going for a walk outside.

Using strategies such as diet breaks, sleep routines and stress management protocols will aid in managing negative adaptations and elevation of ghrelin, meaning you will be more likely to remain compliant and reach your fat-loss goals!