Why older people feel less hungry after eating
Effect of age and frailty on ghrelin and cholecystokinin responses to a meal test.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Ghrelin levels showed no correlation with hunger at all—even though it’s widely called the 'hunger hormone.'
Common belief is that ghrelin rises before meals and falls after—driving hunger. But here, even when ghrelin didn’t drop after eating, hunger still fell—meaning other hormones (CCK, insulin) were doing the work.
Practical Takeaways
For caregivers: Offer smaller, more frequent meals rich in protein and fat to trigger CCK and insulin—since these hormones still respond in older adults.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Ghrelin levels showed no correlation with hunger at all—even though it’s widely called the 'hunger hormone.'
Common belief is that ghrelin rises before meals and falls after—driving hunger. But here, even when ghrelin didn’t drop after eating, hunger still fell—meaning other hormones (CCK, insulin) were doing the work.
Practical Takeaways
For caregivers: Offer smaller, more frequent meals rich in protein and fat to trigger CCK and insulin—since these hormones still respond in older adults.
Publication
Journal
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Year
2009
Authors
M. Serra-Prat, E. Palomera, P. Clavé, M. Puig-Domingo
Related Content
Claims (6)
When young people eat, their body releases more of the fullness hormone than older people do, which might help them feel satisfied faster.
After eating the same meal, older people’s bodies release more insulin than younger people’s, which could mean their metabolism works differently as they age.
Older people don’t feel hungry after eating because their body doesn’t release the right hunger hormone the way younger people do.
Frail older people have less of the hunger hormone in their blood even before they eat, which might make them less interested in food.
When people have more of the fullness hormones (CCK and insulin) after eating, they feel less hungry — this is true whether they’re young or old.