Analysis Version
v1
History
Back to Study: Appetite, food intake, and plasma concentrations o...
descriptive
Analysis v1
42
Pro
0
Against

Even though undernourished older women have more of the hunger hormone in their blood, they still don’t eat more—so high hunger signals don’t always make people eat.

Scientific Claim

Plasma ghrelin levels are higher in undernourished older women than in both well-nourished older and young women, yet food intake remains low, indicating that elevated ghrelin does not necessarily stimulate eating in this population.

Original Statement

“Plasma ghrelin concentrations were higher in the undernourished than both well-nourished groups and decreased similarly after the preload in all groups.”

From study:Appetite, food intake, and plasma concentrations of cholecystokinin, ghrelin, and other gastrointestinal hormones in undernourished older women and well-nourished young and older women.

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

overstated

Study Design Support

Design cannot support claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The abstract reports group differences in ghrelin levels but does not establish causality or control for confounders. The claim that ghrelin 'does not necessarily stimulate eating' implies functional interpretation beyond observed data.

More Accurate Statement

“Higher plasma ghrelin concentrations are associated with undernourishment in older women, but this does not correlate with increased food intake, suggesting a dissociation between ghrelin levels and appetite drive in this group.”

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

42
42

Appetite, food intake, and plasma concentrations of cholecystokinin, ghrelin, and other gastrointestinal hormones in undernourished older women and well-nourished young and older women.

Cross-Sectional Study
Human
2003 Aug

Even though the undernourished older women had more of the 'hunger hormone' (ghrelin), they still didn’t feel hungrier or eat more than others, which means having more ghrelin doesn’t always make you eat.

Contradicting (0)

0
No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Appetite, food intake, and plasma concentrations of cholecystokinin, ghrelin, and other gastrointestinal hormones in undernourished older women and well-nourished young and older women.

Score: 42
DOI: 10.1210/JC.2002-021656

Similar Assertions

Older women who aren't eating enough feel less hungry than younger women, even though their bodies are making more of the hunger hormone, which might explain why they eat less as they age.

42
0
85%

Older people don’t feel hungry after eating because their body doesn’t release the right hunger hormone the way younger people do.

32
0
81%

Even though hunger and fullness hormones are different in older women, those differences don’t match up with who eats less—so the problem probably isn’t the hormones themselves.

42
0
80%

Frail older people have less of the hunger hormone in their blood even before they eat, which might make them less interested in food.

32
0
77%

After following diets for 18 months, men's hunger hormone levels went up slightly while women's went down, showing a clear gender difference in how the body responds to dieting.

52
0
73%