# Episode 188: Hunger Hormones 101: The Hormones That Control When You Eat

An episode of [Becoming MindStrong](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1505918838), 19 Aug 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/977851/episodes/19651240-episode-188-hunger-hormones-101-the-hormones-that-control-when-you-eat.mp3

Why does hunger sometimes feel impossible to control, especially during menopause? In Part 1 of Hunger Series, we break down the four key hunger hormones: ghrelin, leptin, insulin, and GLP-1 and how nutrition, sleep, stress, and dieting can influence them. Check out my (free) workshop, How to Fire Up Your Metabolism in Menopause and Beyond right here: www.MindStrongFitness.com

## Transcript

Becoming MindStrong Episode 188: Hunger Hormones 101: The Hormones That Control When You Eat
Speaker 1 0:00
Today's episode is part one of a five-part series that we are calling Hunger Hormones 101. For so many of us at this beautiful stage of life, it feels like we are fighting against our body, right? Maybe by now we've heard that eat less, move more is not the answer, but we're not hungry. So in today's episode, we are going to break this down. We're going to start with what hunger is, so we can understand why we might be fighting against our body. From there, we're going to talk about what I call the Big Four. If you've hung out here, we've got the Big Three of menopause: cortisol, inflammation, gut health. This is the Big Four when it comes to hunger hormones. We're going to talk about what they are, what they do. From there, we'll talk about the breakdown. Why, for so many women in menopause, does hunger just feel like this thing that disappears and again leaves us fighting against our body? And finally, most importantly, the meat and potatoes nutrition pun intended. What we can do about it? So here's the first thing we need to understand: hunger is not a bad thing, and I think this is where diet culture has messed so many of us up, right? Living a lifetime of eat less, move more. If if we're walking around saying, "But Rachel, I'm not hungry, it makes sense why that could feel like a good thing, right? I'm winning the battle of eat less, move more because I don't feel hungry. But as you heard me reference earlier, so much of what's happening to us in menopause that we're not conscious of is that we're fighting against our body. Meaning, our body has a well-developed system of checks and balances. It's designed to keep us alive, and so many of these systems are designed for that purpose, including hunger. So, in the beginning, maybe we were white knuckling our way through hunger. At this point, after years and years of under eating for so many of us, we simply don't feel hunger. And I say this with all the love in the world. That's not necessarily a good thing. It
Speaker 1 4:00
Because stable blood sugar leads to more stable energy and more stable hunger, whereas constant swings in our blood sugar, if we're taking it for a roller coaster ride, means our energy's going for that ride right along with it, and so is our hunger. Hunger hormone number four is the one that I think catches people off guard sometimes. GLP one, our body naturally produces GLP one, and we're going to talk more about the drug in a second. But here's what we need to understand: every single time we eat food, our body produces the hormone GLP one, and it has three jobs. Number one, it starts telling our brain that we're full. Number two, it starts telling our stomach to slow down the emptying process, and number three, it starts telling our pancreas to get to work balancing blood sugar. So these drugs did not invent anything new. What they did is replicate what our body already produces. So what's the difference between. The natural GLP-1 and the drug. The main difference is how long they last. Meaning, the natural GLP-1 only lasts for a few hours. This is why we eat; those signals are sent a few hours later, we feel hungry again. Whereas the drug GLP-1 that can last for days. So when people say things like "It calm down my my hunger noise or it suppressed my appetite, so I'm only eating low calorie. The reason that's happening is because it's taken the natural GLP one that our body produces and it stretched it out. Right? Think about if I lit a match and I held it for a few seconds and I blew it out. That's our natural GLP one. If I lit a match and I let it burn until it's almost at my fingertips, that's the synthetic GLP one. It's lasting much longer, which means we're eating less calories. Which means yes, we're losing weight, but with that, we have to be very cautious because we're probably losing bone density and lean muscle mass if we're not actively fighting against it. Okay, let's do a little recap, and then we're going to dive a little deeper. We understand
Speaker 1 8:05
That poor sleep increases that ghrelin signal, that that belly ghrelin, I'm hungry signal. This is why a poor night of sleep can often lead to cravings. Chronic stress, similar conversation to sleep. For some people, when we feel stressed, we don't feel hungry at all. For others, when we feel stressed, our hunger skyrockets. Stress plays a huge role in impacting these hunger hormones. Protein intake and fiber intake are massive. Yes, we focus on those from the standpoint of overall health, of preserving lean muscle mass, of weight loss, and all of these go hand in hand when it comes to balancing these hunger hormones. I'm going to put muscle mass in here. It's not a direct impact, and the more muscle we have in our body, the healthier our metabolism is. The healthier our metabolism is, the more balanced these hunger hormones are. And finally, meal timing and consistency. This does not mean the whole "don't eat after 8p.m. thing. This means am I eating consistently throughout the day in the name of keeping my blood sugar steady? So not a comprehensive list, but a pretty thorough one. Chronic dieting and under eating, poor sleep, chronic stress, protein intake, fiber intake, muscle from a kind of bigger picture perspective, and timing of eating again, not the whole BS. Don't eat after 8 p.m. But in the name of keeping our blood sugar steady. So why the heck does hunger become such a heavy hitter subject over 40 in this menopausal body? One of the big themes of menopause, as you know, if you've hung out here, is that over 40, our estrogen starts to drop, and as our estrogen starts to drop, our body composition changes. We start to store more fat in that lower belly region. That's where meno belly comes from, right? We start to lose lean muscle mass and bone density at a pretty alarming rate. So it's not just that we're putting on weight, which we we are if we're not working against it. We're also losing lean muscle mass, so we feel flabbier, and our metabolism is
Speaker 1 12:15
Number two, not shocking if you've hung out here. Protein. Protein is not just a buzzword; it is so important when it comes to preserving that muscle mass that we are naturally losing if we're not protecting it by getting enough protein in. A good rule of thumb: aim to get protein on your plate at every meal. Your personal nutrition plan is going to be very different than your best friend's, but a good rule of thumb tends to be around 30 to 40 grams per meal. Again, that's going to be different per person, but it's a good little good little hack to give you a starting place. Number three, fiber. Fiber is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to stabilizing blood sugar, when it comes to overall health, and when it comes to weight loss. Ultimate goal is about 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day. Do not jump to that number; it will mess you up. Most women tend to get about seven to nine grams a day. Jumping to 25 to 30 is not recommended. Meet your body where it is and start to slowly increase that fiber intake. Sleep. If you've been paying attention, that is not a shocking one, and it's so much easier said than done. Some of us just lay in bed for a full hour before we fall asleep. Some of us fall asleep and then we're doing the one to three a.m. wake up. I have passed episodes on this. Nutrition is key when it comes to sleep, especially that one to three a.m. wake up. We can bypass it using nutrition alone. Sleep is a capital M must when it comes to this stage of life. There's lifestyle things we can do, paying attention to are we on our phones, blue light, deep breathing, all the stuff. We, you know, I hate this word, but I'm going to use it. We quote unquote know we should do. It actually works combined with proper nutrition. Last two of what's clearly not a fully comprehensive list, but a great starting place of how we can get these hunger cues back online is building meals that help balance blood sugar, especially at dinner. A balanced plate of lean protein, complex
Speaker 1 16:09
Our job is to get an education to understand the system so that we can flow with it. Right now, if you don't ever feel hungry, or for some women we don't feel hungry all day, and then the caving, the binging, the nighttime snacking comes in. What it's telling us is that the checks and balances are out of whack right now. Those hunger hormones are not functioning the way they're meant to. The good news is we can get them back on track. The single first most important step we can take is to stop under eating. I know it sounds crazy as people who work in the nutrition world, but our members will be the first to tell you we throw a party when hunger signals come back online. When our women wake up and they're like, "I don't know what's happening this morning, but I woke up a little hungry. Hands in there, hallelujah! Our hunger's coming back online, which is glaring neon light number one that these hunger hormones are balancing out. In part two of this five-part series, we're gonna dig deeper into ghrelin and leptin. We introduce them today, right? Ghrelin is our belly ghrelin; it's our hunger hormone. Leptin is our full hormone. We're gonna talk more about what they are, what they do, and how we can get them back on track. If you are loving this video, you will love my deep dive training: how to fire up your metabolism in menopause and beyond. You can use the link below in the description or the pinned comment for immediate access. Then, don't forget to check out this next video for more help in your menopause journey.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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