Coaches Tip – Looking at appetizing food can make you fat
Researchers have recently found that the sight of appetizing food can trigger hormonal responses that increase hunger. We have all heard it before, but now there is evidence to support the claims “that just looking at food makes me hungry”. Researchers measured the levels of ghrelin, insulin, and leptin in the blood and found that with the sight of appetizing meals and foods subjects’ secretion of ghrelin was high. Ghrelin is an appetite producing hormone that is secreted before meals to increase hunger and aid digestive processes.
This evidence shows that not only do we have physiological stimulus driving hunger, but we can also have environmental stimuli influence our hunger. This is a tough stimulus to avoid and control, but it is interesting to note the influence of the environment and advertising on our appetite as it plays an integral role in our overall health.
Next time you get hungry after viewing pictures of meals ask yourself if you really are hungry or is it just the environmental stimulus of food images sparking your urge to eat.
