You Are What You Think!
Written By: Yale University, August 2011
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Published - Sep 18, 2011
A new study conducted by Yale University suggests that people's state of mind influences how they feel after they've eaten. Researchers focused on levels of ghrelin, the so-called "hunger hormone" produced in the gut. This hormone stimulates appetite and feelings of hunger. Typically before meals, ghrelin levels are high and then decrease after eating, helping the person to feel full and stop eating.
Researchers split the study subjects into two groups. Each group was given a 380 calorie milk shake. The first group was told the milkshake contained 620 calories, and the second group was told it had a mere 140 calories. Each group was allowed to drink the shake. After completing the shake, those individuals who thought the shake had 600 calories had a dramatically steeper decline in ghrelin after drinking it. Those who felt they had the low calorie shake had a flat ghrelin response. Clearly this study demonstrates that it is not solely what we eat but our perception of what we eat that allows us to feel full.
A consistent threat among overweight and obese individuals is that they eat too rapidly or while being distracted. This study clearly indicates that if a person focuses on what they're eating and thinks about what they're eating, it helps to suppress ghrelin and lead to greater satiety with fewer calories.