The regulation of energy intake is a vital process in the body as possible to maintain a balance between the amount of energy stored as body fat and the catabolism of the same.
Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the main factors involved in regulating food intake, energy balance and pathophysiology.
Methods: We searched Medline and Ebsco of articles published in English and Spanish in the period between January 2009 and January 2012. Search terms were "food intake", "energy balance", "regulation", "nutritional homeostasis."
Results: There were a total of 198 scientific studies, of which only 70 met the requirements of the search. All studies consulted agree on the importance of gastrointestinal hormones modulating agents as primary energy homeostasis. Such a modulatory effect on appetite and satiety is mediated by direct action on the hypothalamus or the nucleus of the solitary tract at the brainstem (autonomic nervous system). Only ghrelin has been linked to the start of the intake considering a major orexigenicas signals studied in animal models and humans.
Discussion: The regulation of food intake and energy balance is an extremely complex process whose operation and balance is made possible by the action of various endocrine signals of the gastrointestinal tract.