How Brain Neurotransmitters Make It Easier or Harder to Control Your Appetite
What is it that motivates you to eat – or to overeat? Your appetite is regulated by a complex group of peptides including appetite hormones like leptin, produced by fat cells. Leptin turns off your appetite and reduces the desire to eat. Ghrelin, a hormone produced by the lining of your stomach has the opposite effect – it strongly stimulates the desire to eat. Think mad rush to the refrigerator! These hormones exert their effects on a portion of your brain called the hypothalamus.