How Hunger Works

Understanding the hormonal process of hunger and eating makes eating a little less sexy.

I don't know, I think a well prepared meatloaf is very sexy... or a medium don prime rib. Hamburger done out on the grill is pretty sexy. Even a bratwurst on the grill is pretty sexy... but then again, I'm from Green Bay, and tailgating at Lambeau Field before a Packer game is pretty nice too.

Here in Texas the foreplay simplifies to "Yew awake??"

in some places "You awake??", that would be called.... 'post play'.

With some of 'em it depends on how many are still in line.

I didn't think it could.... but, the quality of comments did go down after mine...

And I'm relieved, now where did I put my Ray-Ban®

Such is the nature of online forums.

Welding goggles work. So does camo.

In Arkansas it is "Hey cousin Millie, are yew 'wake?"

You boys made me truly sorry I stepped off my horsey into that pile of sh*fting sand.

Here's mud in your eye!

Interesting info. Thanks!

..."Fatty, sugary food releases chemicals called opioids into the blood stream, giving us a feeling of pleasure."...

I think this pretty much says it all....add a little alcohol to cloud judgement, sedentary lifestyle, and you have the recipe for an obesity crisis...

Just a note that this blog is not written by a person with a deep insight into physiology. It is true that the vagus nerve is a pathway of information between the gut and the brain (both ways, incidentally) but the action of ghrelin involves another route. Ghrelin is a hormone, i.e. a chemical produced in one part of the body which then travels in the bloodstream to have an effect in another part of the body. The action of ghrelin on the hypothalamus is independent of vagal signalling.

Pro-opiomelanocortin is not in itself an appetite suppressant. It is a large molecule synthesised in various sites, including hypothalamus, pituitary and even in the skin, which is then broken down enzymatically to produce a number of different hormones. One of these is β-endorphin, which gives rise to a sensation of pleasure. It is the fraction broken down in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus to α-melanotropin which suppresses appetite.

I will also venture to comment on " Being able to know if you’re hungry is an important next step". If you don't know you are hungry you will starve to death. I suggest it is more useful to emphasise "Being able to know that you have eaten enough already is an important next step".

It is true that the vagus nerve is a pathway of information between the gut and the brain (both ways, incidentally)

well,... its been known for some time now that the digestive system houses certain elements of a nervous system as well as certain brain chemical that can affect mood.

One can surmise that within your gut is actually a second brain. Its quite interesting.

In some men, the third brain is considerably further south. That one runs the entire show.

for some men, that's the only thing they have for a brain.

I'm sorry you provided that reference, because it is complete nonsense. The Institute of Health Sciences, whose website you quote, has a similar name to a respectable academic body, the National Institute of Health Sciences, which is a partner of the University of Limerick. The IHS, in contrast, has no academic credentials, and is more concerned with peddling its nutritional courses.

The nervous pathways from the gut go up to the brain and nervous impulses from the brain come back down to the gut. There is no evidence for integration of nervous activity locally in the gut. There is no second brain (try searching PubMed for "second brain").

In my world, a sick gut = a sick mind. Worry creates a sick gut, which leads to a sick mind that worries, leading to a sicker gut, until {uuuuhhhhh} the bitter end.

If gut health is compromised, then the blood barrier is compromised, and this leads to infections all over the body, I suppose, not necessarily bacteria, but viral, fungal (esp. yeast flora), and so on.

I say eat, drink, and be merry because your gut depends on you.

don't be sorry about my earlier reference, so how about Scientific America.

Or maybe you need a medical reference such as John Hopkins. Or you maybe you never heard of that either... Then how about Psychology Today.

Well I don't care about that last one.... but the list is long... with academic credentials.

You have to realize that the second brain is not an advance brain, may be complicated, but not advanced, and that's why I used the term 'surmised'... also... here's another tidbit where you may be confused with... and that is the word 'surmised'

In the connotation of dialogue about gut phenomena, I would think that the word "surmise" does not return as often as "surprise".

Thank you. I suggest you read them closely yourself. In Scientific American it is given in inverted commas as a nickname. In the Johns Hopkins reference the "gut brain" is substantially concerned with regulating the actions of the gut. Well, what a surprise, the heart, the lungs and the kidneys also have self-regulatory components. Yes, there is a lot of neural tissue in the gut, but it is still firmly subordinate to the brain. Quoting Johns Hopkins again: " it communicates back and forth with our big brain—with profound results.”.

I suggest you go off to PubMed and find me a real reference from the scientific literature.

this is somewhat entertaining....

actually I have,... and you're basically repeating what I covered

why don't your tell me the meaning of the word 'surmise' is?

I surmise that a lot of people surmise that the existence of a substantial amount of neural tissue is equivalent to the existence of a brain.

I didn't asked for and example, I asked if you knew the meaning... but still entertaining

Some says a good appetite for food compensates the lack of sex life? Is it true?