Most people would assume that weight gain or loss is simply related to the number of calories you eat each day and the amount of exercise you get. However, there is a hormone called leptin that is gaining more and more attention from scientists. Leptin resistance has been identified as a major factor in fat gain.
If you have been trying to lose weight without much effect, or your weight is repeatedly unable to stay normal, then you need to take a closer look at the contents of this article, which may help you open the door to successful weight loss.
What is Leptin?
This is a hormone produced by the body’s fat cells and has a strong effect on regulating body weight. When you eat, your body releases leptin, which gradually increases the feeling of fullness. As the body digests food, leptin levels drop again, another hormone called ghrelin increases, and you’re hungry again.
When your body has enough fat stores to burn to supply energy, leptin tells your brain that you don’t need to add extra calories. So, the main role of leptin is to regulate energy over time, including the number of calories you take in and burn, and how much fat you store in your body. It stops us from overeating and prevents gaining weight.
Is the More Leptin the Better?
“Since leptin can suppress appetite, is a higher level of it better? “
“Since it is produced by adipose tissue, fat people should have more leptin in their bodies, but why can’t they lose weight and have a growing appetite?”
If you have heard of or know about insulin resistance, then you probably already know the answer to these two questions, and yes, it is leptin resistance.
This is the result of years of poor diet and lifestyle leading to hyperleptinemia, making it less effective in controlling appetite. The terrible consequence is that even if you eat more, you can’t satisfy your appetite.
The reason is that the more fat you accumulate in your body, the higher your leptin levels become, but because the signal pathway to the brain is blocked, the brain cannot sense that you are full and mistakenly thinks you are starving, so it continues to give you the command to “eat”.
This vicious cycle makes leptin resistance and insulin resistance more and more serious and finally develops into obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and a series of health problems.
In addition, to conserve energy, the brain will lower your energy expenditure level, allowing you to burn fewer calories at rest. Therefore, eating more and exercising less is not the root cause of weight gain, but rather a hormonal imbalance caused by leptin resistance.
What Causes Leptin Resistance?
Like insulin resistance, leptin resistance does not occur overnight; it is caused by a chronic unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Some of the major factors include:
- Unhealthy diet. High-sugar, high-carbohydrate diet, such as a variety of desserts, processed foods, unhealthy vegetable oils, sugary drinks, etc.
- Not hungry also eat. This is the biggest problem of modern people. With a variety of gourmet snacks at your fingertips, the result is that almost everyone’s mouth is constantly chewing something.
- Lack of sleep, day and night reversal, and biological clock disorder.
- Chronically high insulin levels. These two interact with each other, adding to the severity of the problem.
- Too much stress. Life and work stress can also lead to leptin resistance.
- Free fatty acids. Increased free fatty acids in the blood may increase fat metabolites in the brain and interfere with leptin signaling.
How to Reverse Leptin Resistance to Lose Weight Successfully?
As with improving insulin sensitivity, we can improve leptin sensitivity through diet, lifestyle, and environmental changes. But leptin resistance does not develop overnight, and changing it completely cannot happen overnight. It requires you to be prepared to make lifestyle changes for the sake of your health.
You can do this by:
- Stay away from junk food. Low-carb diet, more healthy fats, high-quality protein, fewer sweets, and processed foods.
- Don’t eat if you’re not hungry and stop when you’re full. Your body does not need extra calories for energy so the body’s stored fat is fully utilized.
- Ensure sleep. Maintain a regular work schedule, do not stay up late, and sleep at least 7-8 hours a night.
- Improve intestinal health. The intestine is the body’s second brain, 70% of the immune system is located in the intestine. Eating more fiber and probiotic-rich food can help the body detoxify and improve immunity.
- The right amount of exercise. Life is exercise, according to their situation, appropriate exercise can help burn fat and improve leptin and insulin sensitivity.
- Try intermittent fasting.
Conclusion
Hormones in the human body are very powerful, some play a key role in regulating body weight, especially leptin. Obesity is not caused by laziness, cravings, or lack of willpower, leptin resistance is its root cause.
If you have been losing weight but always failing again and again, or repeatedly failing to keep the weight off, then you can try several ways to improve leptin sensitivity as mentioned in this article.
