Does the gut help us to regulate appetite?

Anyone who’s ever suffered from a dodgy belly (that’s all of us, then) will tell you it’s not rocket science that digestive discomfort is going to affect what you feel like eating. But what about when everything is running more smoothly – does gut health still have an impact? In a word: yes.

Hunger hormones are made in the gut

“There are many ways in which the gut plays a role in regulating appetite,” says nutritionist and gut expert Nishtha Patel. “It does this in a few different ways. There are two main hormones that influence appetite: ghrelin and peptide YY (PYY). Both of these are made in the gut.”

Ghrelin is commonly known as the ‘hunger hormone’, as it stimulates us to feel hungry when our bodies are running low on fuel, while PYY signals to the brain when we’re full.

“We have a range of hormones that regulate our appetite, causing us to want to eat more or less,” agrees registered nutritional therapist Anna Mapson. “We produce ghrelin in our stomach and central nervous system when we haven’t eaten for a while, which causes us to seek out food. As we eat again, the levels of ghrelin should reduce.”

A happy gut means these hormones will be working correctly, but any kind of disruption to the delicate balance in our digestive system can cause disruption to these hormones, and therefore our appetite levels.

Feeling hungrier than usual? Your gut health could have a role to play