Grhelin is apparently produced in two different places - the stomach and the brain. This hormone helps your body regulate its appetite. For example, if you are taking in low amounts of food, grhelin will release, causing you to feel hungry and causing your stomach to begin rumbling.
For some reason, obese people seem to have lower amounts of grhelin than other people do. Maybe their bodies have become more sensitive to grhelin and they do not need as much present to trigger their feelings of hunger. Unfortunately this lower grhelin level has been tied to fertility problems, so especially people who want to have children should pay attention to this hormone.
So a healthy amount of grhelin in your body is important - but you also want your body to be releasing only an amount that is right for you, whatever your current baseline is. That is, let's say X amount of grhelin has you feeling fine, but X times 2 amount of grhelin makes you feel hungry. This is where lack of sleep comes in.
If you do not get enough sleep, it causes your body to make more grhelin. You are now feeling hungry. This means when you wake up you are feeling more hungry than usual, and you eat more than usual throughout the day. It's not that you are actually in need of more food. Your stomach is not larger. It's simply your hormones driving you to eat more.
If you feel really hungry during the day, definitely look at your daily sleep logs. Are you getting a full 7-9 hours of sleep every day? If you are having trouble sleeping, be sure to post in our forums so we can give you advice. We have tons of tips on getting a good night's sleep. Talk with your doctor. However you do it, find a way to get more quality sleep hours into your schedule. It might mean the breakthrough difference in how you lose weight.
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