Ghrelin and peptide YY increase with weight loss during a 12-month intervention to reduce dietary energy density in obese women

•Ghrelin and PYY increased in response to reduced ED and consequent weight loss.•Low-ED diets were associated with lesser increases ghrelin across the intervention.•Low-ED diets tended to be associated with increases in PYY.•Reductions in ED may promote weight loss by blunting orexigenic hormone responses.

Reducing dietary energy density (ED) promotes weight loss; however, underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine if low-ED diets facilitate weight loss through actions on ghrelin and peptide YY (PYY), independent of influences of psychosocial measures. Seventy-one obese women (BMI 30–40 kg/m2) ages 22–60 years received counseling to reduce ED. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for total ghrelin and total PYY by radioimmunoassay at months 0, 3, 6, and 12. Restraint, disinhibition, and hunger were assessed by the Eating Inventory. Body weight (−7.8 ± 0.5 kg), BMI (−2.9 ± 0.2 kg/m2), body fat (−3.0 ± 0.3%), and ED (−0.47 ± 0.05 kcal/g or −1.97 ± 0.21 kJ/g) decreased from months 0 to 6 (p < 0.05) after which no change occurred from months 6 to 12. Ghrelin increased in a curvilinear fashion (month 0: 973 ± 39, month 3: 1024 ± 37, month 6: 1109 ± 44, and month 12: 1063 ± 45 pg/ml, p < 0.001) and PYY increased linearly (month 0: 74.2 ± 3.1, month 3: 76.4 ± 3.2, month 6: 77.2 ± 3.0, month 12: 82.8 ± 3.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001). ED, body weight, and hunger predicted ghrelin, with ED being the strongest predictor (ghrelin = 2674.8 + 291.6 × ED − 19.2 × BW − 15 × H; p < 0.05). There was a trend toward a significant association between ED and PYY (PYY = 115.0 − 43.1 × ED; p = 0.05). Reductions in ED may promote weight loss and weight loss maintenance by opposing increases in ghrelin and promoting increases in PYY.