Hunger, Eating, and Health

Flashcards covering vocabulary terms related to hunger, eating, and health, based on lecture notes.

Digestion

Gastrointestinal process of breaking down food and absorbing its constituents into the body.

Gut Microbiome

The bacteria and other organisms that live in the gastrointestinal tract and help break down food.

Lipids

Fats; one of the three forms in which energy is delivered to the body.

Amino Acids

Breakdown products of proteins; one of the three forms in which energy is delivered to the body.

Glucose

Simple sugar resulting from the breakdown of complex carbohydrates; one of the three forms in which energy is delivered to the body.

Glycogen

A form in which energy is stored, largely in the liver and muscles.

Cephalic Phase

Preparatory phase of energy metabolism, initiated by the sight, smell, or expectation of food.

Absorptive Phase

Phase of energy metabolism when energy is absorbed into the bloodstream and nutrients meet immediate energy requirements.

Fasting Phase

Phase of energy metabolism when energy is withdrawn from stores to meet immediate body needs.

Insulin

Pancreatic hormone that lowers bloodborne fuels during the cephalic and absorptive phases by promoting the use and storage of glucose.

Glucagon

Pancreatic hormone that is high during the fasting phase and promotes the release of free fatty acids and their conversion to ketones.

Gluconeogenesis

Conversion of protein to glucose, stimulated by low insulin levels and high glucagon levels during the fasting phase.

Set-Point Assumption

The idea that hunger is attributed to an energy deficit and eating is the means to return the body's energy resources to an optimal level.

Glucostatic Theory

The theory that eating is regulated by a system designed to maintain a blood glucose set point.

Lipostatic Theory

The theory that every person has a set point for body fat and deviations from this set point produce compensatory adjustments in eating.

Positive-Incentive Perspective

The idea that humans and other animals are drawn to eat by the anticipated pleasure of eating, not just by internal energy deficits.

Satiety

The motivational state that causes us to stop eating a meal when there is food remaining.

Satiety Signals

Signals induced by food in the gut and glucose entering the blood, which inhibit subsequent consumption.

Sham Eating

Experiment in which food is chewed and swallowed but does not enter the stomach, indicating that satiety signals from the gut or blood are not necessary to terminate a meal.

Sensory-Specific Satiety

The phenomenon where the positive-incentive value of all foods declines slightly as you eat one food, but the value of that particular food plummets.

Hyperphagia

Excessive eating, often produced by lesions to the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) in rats.

Aphagia

Complete cessation of eating, which can be produced by lesions to the lateral hypothalamus (LH).

Adipsia

Complete cessation of drinking, often accompanying aphagia after lesions to the lateral hypothalamus (LH).

Lipogenesis

The production of body fat, increased by bilateral VMH lesions.

Lipolysis

The breakdown of body fat to utilizable forms of energy, decreased by bilateral VMH lesions.

Hunger Peptides

Peptides that increase appetite; examples include neuropeptide Y, galanin, orexin-A, and ghrelin.

Satiety Peptides

Peptides that decrease appetite; examples include CCK, bombesin, glucagon, and somatostatin.

Serotonin Agonists

Drugs that reduce hunger and eating by enhancing short-term satiety signals.

Prader-Willi Syndrome

A genetic disorder characterized by insatiable hunger, little or no satiety, and an exceptionally slow metabolism.

Basal Metabolic Rate

The rate at which energy is utilized to maintain bodily processes when resting.

Diet-Induced Thermogenesis

The mechanism by which the body adjusts the efficiency of its energy utilization in response to its levels of body fat.

Settling Point

The level at which the various factors that influence body weight achieve an equilibrium.

Leaky Barrel Model

Model explaining weight regulation as a settling point, with factors like food availability, motivation to eat, energy consumption and expenditure, and satiety signals.

NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

Energy expenditure generated by activities such as fidgeting, posture, and muscle tone maintenance.

Leptin

A peptide hormone released by fat cells that acts as a negative feedback signal to suppress appetite and boost metabolism.

NPY Neurons (Neuropeptide Y)

Neurons in the arcuate nucleus that release neuropeptide Y, a gut peptide that stimulates hunger.

Melanocortins Neurons

Neurons that release Melanocortins, a class of peptides that includes the gut satiety peptide a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH).

Gastric Bypass

A surgical weight-loss procedure that short-circuits the normal path of food through the digestive tract to reduce absorption.

Adjustable Gastric Band Procedure

A surgical weight-loss procedure positioning a band around the stomach to reduce food flow; the band's circumference can be adjusted.

Anorexia Nervosa

A disorder of underconsumption characterized by health-threatening weight loss and a distorted perception of being fat.

Bulimia Nervosa

A disorder characterized by periods of not eating, interrupted by bingeing, followed by purging.