Research paper
Cummings DE, Purnell JQ, Frayo RS, Schmidova K, Wisse BE, Weigle DS. A preprandial rise in plasma ghrelin levels suggests a role in meal initiation in humans. Diabetes. 2001;50(8):1714-1719. doi:10.2337/diabetes.50.8.1714
Why we cite it
The study that first measured a preprandial ghrelin rise in humans on a fixed meal schedule. Every figure below verifies against the abstract acquired 2026-09-02 — ghrelin rose ”nearly twofold immediately before each meal” and fell to trough ”within 1 h after eating, a pattern reciprocal to that of insulin”, from plasma sampled 38 times over 24 hours in 10 healthy subjects.
Two words corrected 2026-09-02 (card 6NM98H), and the authors’ own framing is the whole argument. This section said the study ”demonstrate[d]” the surge and was ”establishing ghrelin as a physiological meal-initiation signal.” *The paper’s title is ”A preprandial rise in plasma ghrelin levels suggests a role in meal initiation in humans”**, and its abstract calls itself ”as a first step to investigate this hypothesis”, with ghrelin something that ”may participate in meal initiation.”* Suggests, may, first step — three hedges, in the title and the opening.
And the design supports their caution rather than ours. Levels were observed on a fixed meal schedule; nothing was manipulated. A rise before a scheduled meal is equally consistent with anticipation of the schedule as with a signal that initiates eating — which is precisely the question `csh02` later addressed by removing the meals, and this library holds both. Cite this record for the pattern. Cite the pair for the interpretation. By sampling 38 times over 24 hours in 10 healthy subjects, Cummings et al. showed that ghrelin nearly doubles before each meal and crashes within an hour after eating — a pattern reciprocal to insulin. The discovery of the diurnal rhythm (nadir at 0900, zenith at 0100) is particularly important for the project: it explains the counterintuitive fact that morning hunger is low despite the overnight fast, and it grounds the project’s messaging that hunger is scheduled, not simply a fuel gauge.
DOI: 10.2337/diabetes.50.8.1714 · PubMed 11473029 · Publisher