The Twilight Saga

Hunger Hormone Levels Rise After Sunset

​Sunshine makes us bright and gay and as the sun sets, our energy levels too decrease. We are tired after a day’s hectic work and feel like cheering up with some comfort foods which is a deadly decision in the case of dieters. To add to all this, a new research has found that the hours after sunset might be the toughest few for individuals on a weight loss program or for those trying to stay slim.

Among all these negativism, one good thing is that people can take steps to curb overeating-they can have an early dinner followed by a portion of fruit after some time or combat stress with alternative ways.

This study is based on the two hormones ghrelin and peptide YY. Ghrelin is popular as the ‘hunger hormone’ and many researches were conducted earlier on this hormone to find out if it could prove to be useful in any way to curb obesity. You can read more about ghrelin at www.firsteatright.com. Peptide YY is a hormone that is linked with the feeling of fullness.

The study involved 32 obese/overweight people who were between the age of 18 and 50 years among which almost 50% of the participants were diagnosed with binge-eating disorder and were constantly trying to come out of overeating.

The participants fasted for 8 hours and were allowed to drink a liquid meal (608 calories) either at 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. Two hours after consuming the meal, the participants were subjected to a stress test where they were asked to place a hand inside a bucketful of cold water for two full minutes. Some 30 minutes after this stress test, all the participants were offered a buffet spread consisting of pizza, chips, cookies and candies.
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The blood tests tracked levels of ghrelin and peptide YY every now and then all through the study. The results revealed that hunger hormone levels (ghrelin) rose and fullness hormone levels (peptide YY) fell more in the evening comparatively than the morning hours. The stress test upped the ghrelin levels only in the evening. So, we conclude that evening is the worst hours of the day for those trying to avoid weight gain as you are prone to overeating, especially more if you are stressed or used to binge eating.