In concert with your brain stem, the hypothalamus senses energy coming in by monitoring the blood for factors like glucose and leptin (a hormone secreted by fat cells when they’re storing energy from a recent meal), and neural signals from the taste buds, stomach, and small intestine that relay information on the size and macronutrient content of a meal. The hypothalamus can also sense when we’re in negative energy balance, monitoring levels of ghrelin (a hormone produced by the stomach when it’s empty), leptin (which decreases when fat cells are depleted), and other cues. In response, the
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