This Hormone May Be the Reason You Are Fat
Are you one of those people who swears you can’t lose weight no matter what?
Have you ever said “It’s not my fault, if I even look at food I gain weight”?
Do you wish you could just flip a switch and make your metabolism go back to the way it worked when you were 20?
At long last some good news has arrived. Let me introduce you to the hormone leptin. This article will give you the 411 on leptin and is #1 in a series of 10 articles on leptin resistance.
Leptin is the hormone secreted by fat cells contained in white adipose tissue (WAT) and is critical to our survival.
Adipose tissue is the name for the connective tissue we call fat. It is found in all mammals regardless of BMI (body mass index) and serves three functions, heat insulation, cushion, and as s source of energy. When we have more WAT than we need on board it shows up as the cottage cheese on our thighs and the beer belly on our mates.
Leptin as the survival hormone tells the body when enough fat is stored in the cells to ensure survival in case of famine or disease. When enough fat is in storage in the fat cells leptin is released and signals the brain that no more food is necessary. When our endocrine system is working at peak we get the sensation that we don’t need to consume anything else; our cells have enough fuel in storage and we get the message that its’ time to stop eating. At some point in the not too distant past you might have experienced fullness after eating just enough to satisfy your hunger.
Now not so much. Why? Because leptin has a hand in regulating other hormones-adrenal, pancreatic, thyroid and sex hormones all respond to leptin’s influence. In short what this means is that leptin and the ensuing tango of other hormones is, according to Byron J. Richards, CCN, “responsible for bizarre and erratic behavior and cravings related to food. He goes on to say, “Leptin is essential for survival; without it the human race would have perished from starvation long ago. However, in the land of food on every corner it is also the hormone that fuels addictive and compulsive behavior.”
So wouldn’t it stand to reason that if we could increase leptin production people would feel satisfied on the right amount of food and either lose weight or at least not gain any more?
In 1995, the year credited to the discovery of leptin and it’s role in our complex systems, scientists were excited thinking they’d found the key to controlling and maybe eliminating obesity. Turns out that overweight people are not deficient in leptin they have an over abundance of it. Too much leptin causes “leptin resistance.”
Dr. Ron Rosedale, the author of “The Rosedale Diet, Turn Off Your Hunger Switch” says, “When a person becomes leptin resistant, it takes more and more leptin to tell the brain that it’s satisfied and that you don’t need more food. Therefore, it takes more and more food to feel satisfied. The brain, not hearing leptin, frantically signals for more and more fat to be stored.” Even if you have plenty of excess fat the brain can’t get leptin’s signal saying so. “Since leptin is made by fat cells, you have to make more and more fat to produce enough leptin to finally get its message across to the brain to stop being hungry and stop storing fat” he adds in chapter one in his book.
What to do? Well you can buy Dr. Rosedale’s book or follow along as uncover more about leptin, leptin resistance, how to find out if you are leptin resistant and what to do to get leptin in check and take back your metabolism.
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