Why Some Have Big Dessert after Large Meal

Ghrelin, a so-called hunger hormone, is the reason why some people have room for a high-calorie dessert after eating a big meal. Study results showed that rats lacking ghrelin receptor gene ate less of a sweet treat after a full meal than did rodents whose ghrelin receptor gene was intact. Combined with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, over-consumption of reward-driven foods may be partly responsible for the current obesity epidemic. Ghrelin receptors may represent an important target for obesity treatments. The Endocrine Society’s 94th annual meeting June 2012