Appetite - How much control do we really have?
Many people think they ‘should’ be able to just eat less. If they only had more control, more motivation, more willpower, then it would be easy to lose weight. Right?
What if I told you, we don’t have as much control as we like to think.
Recently, I was having a chat with some colleagues reviewing appetite and the science of obesity. New guidelines released by the Association for the Study of Obesity Ireland have a section reviewing the neurobiology of appetite. Every year, research is revealing more and more about the hormones, nerves, and brain chemistry that govern appetite. Lets talk a little bit about what we know so far and the role the brain plays in controlling our appetite.
We know that there are 3 areas of our brain which help to regulate appetite. One area called the hypothalamus, which works to control energy regulation. To be more specific, its responsible for regulating energy intake and expenditure. Its sometimes referred to as our ‘hunger centre’ and receives messages from your gut, fat tissues, and other organs to get you to seek food. After we eat, a cascade of reactions causing this area to calm down. This region is affected by your health, smell, and taste preferences.
The second area is the pleasure centre of the brain. We refer to this as hedonic eating, which is when we derive pleasure from eating food. We have a complex set of hormones which cause us to ‘want’ food, and then a second set which cause us to ‘like’ the food we’re eating. For some people, this area gets a bit hijacked. Some people have a much greater response to ‘wanting’ food and then much less pleasure for ‘liking’ it when they are actually eating it. Sometimes this leads to eating more of the food trying to seek the pleasurable feeling they were hoping for. This is a key area in targeting treatments for people living with obesity.
The last area is the frontal lobe. This area is responsible for our ‘executive functioning’ (i.e. the part we have the most control over). This is where we respond to our appetite by saying what we chose to eat and how much.
So if we have a degree of control over our appetite, where can it go wrong? The frontal lobe works best when we are well oxygenated, low stress, and well rested. It can also be affected by alcohol, drugs, and some medications (i.e. steroids). For example, if you were stressed, not sleeping well, and drinking more alcohol than normal, then there may be more disruptions between the area front and mid part of the brain, resulting in less control around food.
Does this means its out of our hands? No, there is some good news. By improving sleep patterns, learning techniques for emotions and stress management, and using practices like cognitive behavioural therapy you can improve your appetite control. If you are experiencing dysregulation in appetite, like in people living with obesity, you can also work with your medical provider to aide in hormonal appetite regulation (for some people this may mean taking a medication like Ozempic).
You can also work with a Dietitian on how to feel more satisfied with meals. Often meals with higher protein and fibre content will be more filling and satiating. This may mean adjusting the content, portion sizes of your meals, and meal timings to ensure that you are better able to control your blood sugar levels, recognize and respond to hunger cues.
Appetite is extremely complex and as we learn more about it and medications become more readily available, we may begin to stop putting so much shame on our ability to control our intake. We may start understanding it for the complex nature that it is and develop more self-compassion with evidence based approaches to helping people live healthier lives with healthier relationships to food.
