Food and Hormones: Part 2

In this article, we are going to continue our series on hormones and food.  The first post was all about insulin. If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Today, we’re going to cover another important hormone, Leptin. So let’s dive right in!

LEPTIN

Background

Leptin is a big player in satiety, metabolism, and weight loss. It is referred to as a satiety hormone, because it is secreted when you are full, telling your body that you do not need to eat anymore. When leptin levels decrease, you get hungry.

In terms of metabolism, when leptin is increased your metabolic rate increases. This is great news. But the bad news is that when levels decrease, so does your metabolism. This fact makes it especially important for controlling body fat percentage.

This metabolic change takes place because your brain receives messages from fat cells, via leptin, letting it know how much fat you have. Based on whether this amount is more than you need, less than you need, or just right will determine the message your brain gives to your body.

If this amount is too much leptin levels will increase. This provides a signal to your body to stop eating and burn more fat. If the amount is too little your body receives a signal to eat more and store more fat.

What happens when secretion is not normal?

Just as I mentioned last week that you could become resistant to insulin, the same applies to leptin. The mechanisms by which this happens are pretty similar as well.

When your diet is high in sugar and processed carbohydrates, there will be a lot of extra sugar in your blood stream because the carbohydrate storage sites are already full. Because of this, that sugar is stored as fat. This process then causes your fat cells to secrete more leptin than normal.

Donuts: processed and high in sugar.                                 Photo Credit: http://organicfitness.com/food-reward-highly-palatable-processed-food-drives-the-obesity-epidemic/

The increased blood sugar and leptin secretion hinder the brain’s ability to receive the message from leptin. Remember, it tells the brain how much fat you have. So, if the brain does not receive this message it does not know that you have plenty of fat.

You can probably guess what happens next. Your brain tells your body to increase hunger, slow your metabolism, and store more fat. As time goes on you overeat and gain body fat.

How to normalize it?

The good news is that this is reversible. The best and easiest way to do this is to change the food you eat. The reason leptin resistance happens in the first place is from a diet loaded with sugar and processed foods.

Your meals should consist of lean or grass-fed meats, fibrous carbs like vegetables and fruits, and good fats like coconut oil or avocado. By eating this way, blood sugar levels will not spike as with processed foods.

This allows insulin to do its job of transporting the blood sugar into storage tissues instead storing it as fat, as you learned in the first post. This will then normalize leptin secretion, which in turn, will allow the brain to become more sensitive to leptin’s message.

Summary

Leptin is very similar to insulin as you can see. It is very easy to become resistant if you do not eat well. Changing this one thing can lead to great improvements in body composition.

So here is a list of things you need to know about leptin.

1) When it increases you are full and metabolism speeds up but when it decreases you get hungry and metabolism slows down.

2) It sends a message to your brain telling it whether you have too much, too little, or just the right amount of fat.

3) A diet high in sugar and processed foods can impair the brain’s ability to receive leptin’s message.

4) This increases hunger, slows down metabolism, and causes you to overeat and gain weight.

5) A diet consisting of lean meats, fibrous carbs, and good fats can help in restoring the brain’s sensitivity to leptin’s message.

That’s all for today. Stay tuned for next week when I cover the final hormone, cortisol!

If you are looking for a personal trainer in Savannah, contact me to set up a consultation.

And if you found any of this information helpful, or know of someone it could help please share with others!

References:

1) Hartwing, D., Hartwing, M. (2012). It starts with food. Las Vegas: Victory Belt Publishing.

2) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/29/leptin-resistance.aspx