A team of researchers has discovered a protein that boosts hunger hormone and stimulates appetite.
Researchers found that the protein, called soy-ghretropin, stimulates secretion of ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone produced in the stomach.
When fed to mice, this soy-based protein increased blood levels of ghrelin and boosted their appetite.
The findings suggest that soy-ghretropin may be developed for elderly people or anorexic patients whose ghrelin levels and food intake are reduced.
The study is published in FEBS Letters.