How you can THINK yourself slim: Your metabolism speeds up when your body thinks it's eating something high in calories

If people think they're eating something fattening, levels of the 'hunger hormone' fall quicker than if they think they're eating something healthy

When the levels of this hormone fall, metabolism rate increases

It was previously thought levels of the hormone - ghrelin - were just controlled by the nutrients actually entering the stomach

The new research shows there is also a psychological element

Many people carefully study food labels in a bid to determine if the product is fattening and unhealthy.

And now, research suggests the content of the label could be almost as important as the content of the product itself.

This is because scientists found people’s metabolisms speed up when they believe they are consuming something very indulgent and high in calories – regardless of how fattening the product actually is.

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When people believe they are eating something that is high in calories their metabolisms speed up

In contrast, our metabolisms slow down when they we eat something our bodies believe to be low in calories, Guardian Liberty Voice reports.

A psychologist called Alia Crum, at Columbia Business School in New York, conducted the so-called Milkshake Study to establish the effect of labels on the body.

Dr Crum measured levels of the ‘hunger hormone’ – ghrelin – before and after a group of people drank some milkshakes.

 

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She gave each participant the same 380 calorie milkshake but half were labelled as containing 620 calories, while the other half were said to contain 140 calories.

Dr Crum discovered that people who drank the ‘high-calorie’ milkshake saw their ghrelin levels drop three times as quickly as those of the people who thought they were drinking low-calorie milkshakes.

This is important as the hormone not only makes people feel hunger, it also influences the speed of metabolism.

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It is not only actually nutrient intake, but also perceived nutrient intake, that influences the body's levels of the 'hunger hormone'. This hormone controls metabolism and appetite

It was previously thought that ghrelin levels were simply controlled by the nutrients entering the stomach.

It was known that people become hungry when ghrelin levels rise and that metabolism increases when levels of the hormone fall, meaning the calories consumed are burned.

However, the Milkshake Study shows that there is a placebo effect as well.

This means it is not just actual calorie consumption, but also perceived calorie consumption, that influences the body’s level of the hormone and, therefore, rate of metabolism.

As a result, Dr Crum suggests that the best way for people to lose weight might be to eat food that is very low in calories but which they believe to be high in calories.

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2605109/How-THINK-slim-Your-metabolism-speeds-body-thinks-eating-high-calories.html#ixzz2zBchijCO 
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