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If you ever took high school or college biology, you may remember a little something about ghrelin. Along with leptin, it’s one of two appetite hormones that control the body’s hunger and fullness cues, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Where leptin tells your brain that you’ve eaten enough, ghrelin does the opposite, sending signals that it’s time to eat. (You can remember this with the mnemonic that ghrelin makes your stomach go “grrr” or that “ghrelin gets your belly growlin’.”)
Since these two hormones are intricately linked with weight management, you might get the impression that leptin is inherently good because it makes you feel full, while ghrelin is bad for making you hungry. But that’s a bit simplistic. Ghrelin actually serves multiple important functions beyond sending you to the pantry for a snack.
“While best known for its hunger-inducing effects, ghrelin is a multitasking hormone,” says Bonnie Newlin, RDN, founder of Crave Nourishment, based in the Baltimore area. Ghrelin tells your body to release growth hormones for cell repair, influences how your body uses sugar, and even helps protect your muscles and bones, reports the Cleveland Clinic.
Still, there are certain factors that can throw your ghrelin out of whack, creating excessive hunger. When this happens, it can derail your weight loss efforts. Consider this your ghrelin 101: what this hormone is, what it does, and what you can do to manage your levels.
What Is Ghrelin?
As a hormone, ghrelin is made up of peptides created by the endocrine system. It originates primarily in the stomach, but can be found all throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Grelin was only discovered in 1999, according to a 2023 StatPearls report, so research on it is still relatively new — but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a good grasp on what it does. Again, its primary job is to tell your brain to feel hunger.
How Does Ghrelin Play a Role in Hunger?
As your stomach empties, it releases ghrelin, which travels through the bloodstream to the brain, according to a study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology. There, it acts upon the hypothalamus, stimulating appetite neurons to give you hunger signals — hence the peckishness you feel when mealtimes roll around. When you eat, ghrelin levels fall again, temporarily sated, until the cycle repeats.
How Is Ghrelin Related to Weight?
Since ghrelin is linked to appetite, it’s not surprising that it ultimately impacts weight. Multiple studies have shown that in people with obesity, there is inadequate suppression of ghrelin after eating, according to StatPearls. This may lead to lower feelings of fullness, greater risk of overeating, and difficulty losing weight. Several studies have also found that individuals with obesity tend to have lower ghrelin levels compared to lean individuals, notes research published in the journal In Vivo.
Losing or gaining weight can also affect your circulating ghrelin. “When you lose weight, ghrelin levels significantly increase (a biofeedback loop aimed at keeping your weight stable),” explains Melissa Groves Azzaro, RDN, owner of The Hormone Dietitian in Keene, New Hampshire. “This increases hunger levels and can slow or stall weight loss.” On the flip side, gaining weight can send a slow-down message to the body’s ghrelin production. “With significant weight gain, ghrelin levels can decrease, essentially telling your brain that you have enough stored energy (fat), so you don’t need to eat as much,” she says.
How Do GLP-1 Drugs Affect Ghrelin?
The advent of GLP-1 drugs (which include semaglutides like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) has introduced a whole new element to the satiety-and-weight loss discussion, particularly pertaining to ghrelin. Though these drugs don’t appear to affect your levels of ghrelin, they may change your response to them, according to research in Nutrients. “GLP-1 agonist medications counteract the effects of ghrelin, or make you feel less hungry in response to ghrelin production,” Groves Azzaro says. “This can help you keep losing weight despite rising ghrelin levels.”
Intriguingly, these meds may also impact leptin levels, further keeping appetite in check. “GLP-1 medications may raise leptin, ghrelin’s opposite hormone, which helps us feel full,” Groves Azzaro notes. A study in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, for example, found that GLP-1 drugs and leptin receptors may work in harmony, since leptin stimulates the release of GLP-1 in intestinal cells. In other words, these drugs may work on both leptin and ghrelin on different fronts. The big-picture outcome: lower appetite and greater weight loss.
What Other Factors Affect Ghrelin?
You’re not without options when it comes to moving the needle on your hunger hormones. Several factors can influence how much your body produces.
How Can I Decrease My Ghrelin Naturally?
Modulating ghrelin doesn’t usually require medication or hormone injections. Most “treatments” are simply everyday lifestyle choices. “You can keep ghrelin levels in better check by avoiding yo-yo dieting; eating regular, balanced meals that have protein, fat, and fiber-containing carbohydrates (like whole grains, legumes, and fruits and vegetables); getting enough sleep; and managing stress levels,” suggests Groves Azzaro.
Newlin emphasizes that sleep could especially make a difference. “Prioritizing quality sleep (seven to eight hours) regulates hormones that curb hunger,” she says. In fact, a 2023 study in Obesity revealed that after just one night of sleep deprivation, subjects had higher levels of ghrelin and lower levels of leptin in their blood.
Working on slow, steady weight loss is another possible path toward streamlining your ghrelin. “Maintaining a healthy weight can further optimize ghrelin regulation and prevent the pitfalls associated with the hormone dysregulation that often occurs with fad dieting,” says Newlin. Some past research has linked yo-yo dieting with higher concentrations of ghrelin. Rather than shedding pounds overnight, a slower, gradual rate of weight loss is the better route to keep ghrelin from spiking.
What Foods Reduce Ghrelin Levels?
Your plate has more power than you might realize to affect ghrelin levels. Managing hunger by eating a balanced diet avoids blood sugar spikes that trigger ghrelin production, Newlin explains. Specifically, she recommends incorporating foods such as:
- Skinless chicken
- Fish
- Beans and lentils
- Whole grains
- Fruits and vegetables
- Healthy fats (like olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds)
Lean proteins, healthy carbohydrates, and low levels of processed foods can all be part of a diet that keeps ghrelin in check, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The Bottom Line
Though ghrelin may get your stomach “growlin’,” it’s not necessarily your weight loss nemesis. It’s an essential hormone that serves your body well in many ways. All it may need is a little help to keep it within weight-loss-friendly parameters. With lifestyle choices like sticking to a balanced diet, managing stress, and getting plenty of sleep, you can help your body produce just enough.
