Ep. 305 - Understanding Hunger During Fasting: Friend Not Foe | The Biology of Ghrelin & Leptin | Managing Hunger Waves & Emotional Eating | HALT the BS Strategy | Join Our Next Fasting Challenge!
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In today's comprehensive episode, Dr. Scott Watier and Tommy Welling tackle the number one barrier to fasting success by demystifying hunger as a trainable physiological response rather than an insurmountable obstacle, explaining the complex interplay between ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and leptin (the fullness signal) and how consistent fasting actually reduces hunger intensity over time. They introduce the powerful "HALT the BS" framework for identifying whether you're truly hungry or responding to being Happy, Angry, Lonely, Tired, Bored, or Stressed—revealing how 50% of dopamine is produced in the gut and why emotional eating stems from dopamine deficits rather than actual nutritional needs. The hosts break down how food choices dramatically impact hunger waves, explaining why ultra-processed foods increase consumption by 17 calories per minute and create blood sugar crashes that trigger false hunger signals, while protein-prioritized meals with healthy fats naturally suppress appetite through the same GLP-1 mechanisms that weight loss medications artificially stimulate. They provide actionable strategies for managing hunger including optimal salt supplementation timing, the hunger-satiety scale for objective assessment, and why poor sleep can lower leptin levels by 17% while simultaneously increasing ghrelin and insulin resistance. This episode delivers a complete toolkit for reframing hunger as something to ride out like a wave rather than fight against, making fasting sustainable and even easier over time through proper preparation, strategic meal composition, and lifestyle optimization.
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