Hunger hormones:- Grehlin & Leptin How can Sleeve surgery play a role? How does our hunger and appetite affect us? Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and also plays a role in body weight. Leptin is a mediator of long-term regulation of energy balance, suppressing food intake and thereby inducing weight loss Ghrelin is a fast-acting hormone, seemingly playing a role in meal initiation. Telling us when we are hungry. In obese individuals the circulating level of the anorexigenic ‘appetite suppressing’ hormone leptin is increased, whereas surprisingly, the level of the orexigenic ‘appetite promoting’ hormone ghrelin is decreased. It is now established that obese patients are leptin-resistant.
Levels of leptin — the appetite suppressor — are lower when you’re thin and higher when you’re obese. So why is it that obese individuals have a hard time losing weight? Many obese people have built up a resistance to the appetite-suppressing effects of leptin, says obesity expert Mary Dallman, PhD, from University of California at San Francisco.
With weight loss surgery such as The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, a portion of the stomach is removed in effect decreasing the number of receptors for Grehlin the hunger hormone. This can counter balance the lack of leptin effects which leads to a decrease in appetite. So many individuals post Sleeve gastrectomy have a decrease in their appetite and maintain satiety after a small meal. This leads to less snacking and long term weight loss success once they understand and follow proper eating behavior.
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