Most people think that weight gain or loss is only related to the calories you eat or to the amount of exercise you do every day.
However, a hormone called leptin has attracted widespread attention regarding weight loss. Scientists believed that leptin resistance may be one of the main causes of weight gain.
If you have been trying to lose weight but haven’t seen any result, or your weight repeatedly fails to maintain a normal state, then you may need to reconsider some other factors that could be hindering your weight loss efforts.
This article will help you to understand the connection between leptin and obesity. Read on to find out how to reverse leptin resistance naturally.
What Is Leptin?
Leptin is a hormone that is produced by your body’s fat cells. It has a great effect on regulating body weight. [*]
When you eat, your body releases leptin to gradually increase your feeling of fullness.
After your body digests all the food, your leptin level drops. Then, another hormone called ghrelin (often called a “hunger hormone”) increases, so you get hungry again.
The main target of leptin is your brain – specifically, an area called the hypothalamus.
The fat cells use leptin to tell your brain how much body fat they carry.
When your body stores enough fat for energy, the level of leptin goes up and tells your brain that you don’t need to add extra calories (no more food).
On the contrary, low leptin levels tell your brain that fat stores are low and that you need to eat. [*]
In summary, the main role of leptin is to regulate energy including, the number of calories you consume and burn and how much fat you store in your body.
Therefore, leptin can prevent weight gain caused by overeating.
Is The More Leptin, The Better?
Here are two common questions:
- If leptin can suppress your appetite and make you eat less, is it better to have a higher level of leptin?
- If leptin is produced by fat cells, overweight people should have more leptin in their bodies, so why can’t obese people lose weight and why do they always have a great appetite.
I don’t know whether you have heard of or understood insulin resistance. If you have, then you probably know half of the answers to these two questions.
That’s right, it’s “Leptin Resistance”!
This is due to years of poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle leading to hyperleptinemia, which makes leptin less effective in controlling appetite.
The reason is that your brain can’t receive the signal from leptin in order to perceive your fullness. As a result, your brain mistakenly thinks that you are still hungry and continues to send out instructions to eat.
Therefore, you never feel satisfied no matter how much you eat.
This vicious circle makes leptin resistance and insulin resistance more and more serious.
It can eventually develop into a series of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases.
In addition, in order to save energy, your brain reduces your energy expenditure level, allowing you to burn fewer calories at rest.
Therefore, eating more and exercising less may not be the root causes of weight gain, but rather a hormonal imbalance caused by leptin resistance.
Another thing worth noting is that long-term dieting can also lead to the same consequences.
Causes Of Leptin Resistance:
Leptin resistance does not happen overnight. It is caused by a long-term unhealthy diet and lifestyle.
Some of the main factors that cause leptin resistance include:
1. Unhealthy diet: Research has found that unhealthy diets can cause an inflammatory response in the animal’s hypothalamus, which seems to promote the development of brain leptin resistance and obesity. [*]
2. Overeating: Overeating may lead to chronically high levels of leptin, which in the long run, may potentially cause leptin resistance.
3. Insufficient sleep: Sleep loss has a big impact on appetite, which is associated with leptin resistance, as occurs with obesity. [*]
4. Stress: When you’re under stress, the additional stress may make your brain less receptive to leptin causing you to overeat.
5. Free fatty acids: Increased free fatty acids in your bloodstream may increase fat metabolites in your brain and interfere with leptin signaling.
Related:
Signs And Symptoms Of Leptin Resistance:
If you meet any one or more of the following typical symptoms, you may have leptin resistance:
- Is it hard for you to lose weight?
- Is it easy to rebound after losing weight?
- Do you have difficulty losing belly fat?
- Do you often get hungry?
- Are you addicted to sweets?
- Are you often mentally stressed?
- Do you have high triglycerides?
- Do you have high blood pressure?
How To Reverse Leptin Resistance And Successfully Lose Weight?
You can improve your leptin sensitivity through diet and lifestyle changes.
However, leptin resistance does not happen overnight, so it is impossible to be completely reversed in a few days.
This requires you to be mentally prepared to change your lifestyle for your own good.
What you can do is:
- Stay away from junk food: Instead, focus on a healthy and well-balanced diet, eating more healthy fats and more high-quality protein. Avoid sweets and processed foods.
- Don’t eat if you are not hungry: Stop eating when you are full. Your body does not need excess calories for energy. It needs to fully utilize the stored fat.
- Get good sleep: Maintain a regular schedule, do not stay up late and sleep at least 7-8 hours a night.
- Improve gut health: Your intestine is the second brain in your body. About 70% of the immune system is located in your gut. Eating more foods rich in fiber and probiotics can help you detoxify and improve immunity.
- More activities: Proper exercise can help you burn fat and improve your sensitivity to leptin and insulin.
- Try intermittent fasting: Fasting helps reduce inflammation that causes leptin resistance and resets leptin receptors, thereby reducing weight.
Summary:
The hormones in your body are powerful. Some of them play a key role in regulating body weight, especially leptin.
In other words, leptin resistance can be one of the root causes of obesity and other health problems.
If you have been trying hard to lose weight or are unable to maintain a healthy weight, then you may have developed leptin resistance.
You can follow the methods mentioned in this article to improve your leptin sensitivity or reverse leptin resistance naturally.
However, You should always consult a physician or nutritionist when making any major changes to your diet.
Finally, don’t forget to share your success with everyone.
