The tca cycle is the brain’s way of telling us when to sleep, wake up, and eat. The cycle is regulated by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland which play a role in regulating the hunger and fullness hormones (acrophase and prolactin, respectively). For example, when we are hungry, the hypothalamus releases the appetite hormones and the pituitary gland sends the hormones of satiation to the stomach.
When we need to sleep, the pituitary gland releases the sleep hormones. And when we need to eat, the hypothalamus releases the satiation hormones to get us to eat. So when we are hungry, our brain sends us the hunger hormones, and when we are full, our brain sends the satiation hormones.
The fullness hormones are actually somewhat of a double-edged sword. They have a calming effect to make us feel satisfied, but they also make us feel physically satiated. That’s when the hypothalamus releases the appetite hormones, which tells the pituitary gland to send the hormones of satiation to our stomach.
This is a really great way to keep your body in a steady state of hunger. But because these hormones also make us feel full, they can also take over and cause us to overeat (or even binge!). The most common reason for this is that people who are underweight are also underfed, and the more they are underfed the more they are prone to overeating. So this is why it is so important to eat a lot of veggies, fruits, and nuts.
In a recent study, it was found that a person’s weight can affect their hunger level and also their satiety level. And interestingly, these two factors are inversely correlated—if you feel full after eating, you might also think that you are hungry. This makes sense, because if you eat a lot of food then you need to go to the bathroom more often.
It’s not just fat people who are on the cusp of a hunger explosion. It’s been discovered that people with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are more likely to overeat than their leaner counterparts. And, since the brain doesn’t get a break when it is fasting, the feeling of being hungry and wanting more may even cause the brain to release more adrenaline.
Another way to look at this is that if you are overweight, you are likely to eat more calories than you need. So if you are already on a diet you might want to cut back on calories. Which brings me to my next point.
This is where I think the idea of the “tca cycle” comes in. You see, the more food you eat at a certain time of day, the more your insulin levels rise. The faster your insulin levels rise, the more you tend to eat more of that food. (and not just fat, but also sweets and carbs.) So if you are an overweight person, it is important to control your intake of food, not just calories.
A key part of controlling your insulin levels is to not eat too many sweets. That is because too many sweets might be tempting to eat.
If you are overweight, you are also more likely to get diabetes. In fact, if you are obese, you are about five times more likely to get diabetes. That’s because your body produces more insulin as well as storing fat during times of stress. For example, if you don’t exercise or sleep enough, you will produce larger amounts of insulin.