Craving Control: The Science Behind Increased Appetite with Weight Gain

We often resolve to go on a diet when we gain too much weight, but our insatiable appetite can make it difficult. As we gain weight, our appetite tends to increase.

Even though we’ve gained weight from overeating, it’s not easy to lose it again. Significantly, the desire to eat something keeps growing, leading us to eat more, gain more weight, and inflate more easily. But why does our appetite increase as we gain weight?

The reason is the increased resistance to leptin and insulin hormones

Leptin is a hormone that has an appetite-suppressing effect. The stronger this appetite-suppressing power, the quicker we feel full and can stop eating. However, as the amount of leptin increases, its power weakens.

Leptin, produced by fat cells, is secreted more when there is more fat, helping us lose weight when we gain weight, and less when we are thin, helping us gain weight.

However, this leptin becomes useless when weight gain exceeds a certain level. In the case of obese individuals, leptin continues to be produced in large amounts, leading the brain to become accustomed to high concentrations of leptin, rendering it ineffective. This state is known as ‘high leptin resistance.’

The lower the leptin resistance, the better the body can absorb and feel full. However, if you are obese and have high leptin resistance, you may not feel full and eat a lot throughout the day.

Also, if you feel fatigued daily without doing anything special, feel hungry again shortly after eating, and your blood sugar drops several times, you may have an insulin problem.

Insulin is a hormone secreted from the pancreas vital in transporting sugar into cells, used as energy in the body. However, in the case of obese people who eat a lot and gain weight, there is a lot of sugar in the blood vessels, and naturally, more insulin is secreted.

Eventually, their bodies have excessive insulin, and the cells develop insulin resistance, making them quickly feel hungry. If they can’t eat, they can become severely depressed and irritable. In other words, obese people’s lack of restraint towards food is not the issue, but their increased appetite due to insulin resistance.

By. Soo Jung Shin