Study explains how protein keeps hunger at bay

[Guest guest]

The news report below (URL at end) has no footnotes, so I have

no idea how accurate it might be. When I eat coconut oil, it does

reduce hunger (at least for me). So it probably depends on exactly

what fats were used in the study. I can also say that undenatured

whey is amazing at reducing my food cravings, so the article's

statements about proteins seem on target..

Alobar

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Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:54am EST

By Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Diets high in protein may be the best way to keep

hunger in check, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a study that

offers insight into how diets work.

They found that protein does the best job at keeping a hunger hormone

in check, while carbohydrates and fats may well deserve their current

nasty reputation.

The study, which will appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology

& Metabolism, looked at the effectiveness of different nutrients at

suppressing ghrelin, a hormone secreted by the stomach that stimulates

appetite.

" Suppression of ghrelin is one of the ways that you lose your appetite

as you begin to eat and become sated, " said Dr. Cummings of the

University of Washington in Seattle, who worked on the study.

The researchers gave 16 people three different beverages, each with

varying levels of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. They took blood

samples before the first beverage, then every 20 minutes for six hours

afterward, measuring ghrelin levels in each sample.

" The interesting findings were that fats suppress ghrelin quite

poorly, " Cummings said in a telephone interview. They fared the

poorest overall.

" Proteins were the best suppressor of ghrelin in terms of the

combination of the depth and duration of suppression, " he said. " That

is truly satisfying because high proteins are essentially common to

almost all of the popular diets. "

They also found that eating carbohydrates resulted in a strong ghrelin

suppression at first, but ghrelin levels rebounded with a vengeance,

rising to an even higher level.

Basically, the carbohydrates eventually made people even hungrier than

before they had eaten.

Cummings said the findings may aid in future research on the

effectiveness of different diets.

And the study likely means that nightly bowl of ice cream is out.

" That is a bad idea no matter what, " he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1726777420080118?sp=true