Many people believe that the accumulation of excess weight is associated only with the consumption of excessive amounts of calories and terrible laziness, which does not allow those calories to be burned. Scientists with this explanation of unhealthy weight gain agree only in part. For obesity has one well-known culprit - the hormone leptin.

What is leptin?

Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells. Sometimes it is called the satiety hormone or, conversely, the hunger hormone.

The physiological role of leptin is that, by acting on the hypothalamus, the hormone transmits to the brain information that a sufficient amount of fat is stored in the body, and, therefore, you can stop eating and start burning calories at a normal rate.

In addition to the main function - the regulation of energy balance - leptin has many additional ones. So it has an effect on fertility, on brain function, on immunity.

A properly functioning leptin "system" protects a person from the development of eating disorders in him - from anorexia and overeating.

Unfortunately, leptin doesn't work properly for many people these days. It protects them from anorexia, but cannot save them from overeating. Why?

Mechanism of action of leptin

The way leptin works is quite simple.

Leptin is produced by fat cells. And the larger these cells are, the more hormone they secrete.

From adipose tissue cells, leptin passes into the bloodstream, which delivers it to the brain, where it affects the hypothalamus, the area of ​​the brain that controls eating behavior and many other functions of the body.

That is, adipose tissue cells use leptin as a messenger, which tells the brain that enough fat has been accumulated - you can take a break and not eat for some time.

Everything is simple and clear. Why doesn't the negative biofeedback loop that is presented always work as intended?

Increased leptin hormone - what does it mean?

In people who are overweight, adipose tissue cells have a very large volume and therefore produce a huge amount of leptin. Theoretically, such a high level of leptin should completely block a person's desire to eat. But that doesn't happen.

On the contrary, the huge amount of leptin that circulates in the blood of overweight people has almost no effect on the hypothalamus.

This state is called leptin resistance. With it, the brain sees only a very small part of leptin, and therefore thinks that it is necessary to consume more food, as the body is starving.

Moreover, the brain, deceived by its own inattention, not only makes you eat more, but also gives a signal to all other body systems to burn as little energy as possible. After all, the body is exhausted - it must be protected.

Thus, overeating and unwillingness to perform any physical activity are not the cause of weight gain, but natural consequences of the onset of leptin resistance.

Causes of leptin resistance

To date, several causes of hypothalamic resistance to leptin have been described. It:

• chronic inflammation
• large amounts of free fatty acids in the bloodstream
• increased secretion of leptin by fat cells
• excessive consumption of a wide variety of sugars, including fruit sugar, which is considered healthy and natural

Since all of these causes occur in people who are overweight, a strong circle is formed. Being overweight leads to leptin resistance, which in turn helps excess fat accumulate further.

Why Diets Don't Work

The results of most rigid diets, which make it possible to quickly lose decent weight, have only short-term results.

Yes, at first the body loses weight. And fast. But then the process of normalization of weight stops and even rolls back.

According to scientists, leptin, or rather resistance to it, is largely responsible for such an unfavorable outcome of losing weight.

When a person loses weight, their fat cells decrease in volume, which means they begin to produce less leptin. At the same time, the insensitivity of the brain to this hormone does not weaken in any way. As a result, the brain generally ceases to notice leptin (after all, it has become noticeably less) and falls into a panic - sentry, hunger!

Frightened by "hunger", the brain completely extinguishes in itself. And it includes a survival program, which implies the intake of as much energy as possible into the body and the consumption of this energy in minimal quantities.

As a result, a thin person is terribly hungry and does not want to move at all. Physical exercise becomes simply impossible. But not because a person is so lazy by nature, but because the brain tells him to conserve energy in conditions of “hunger”.

How to get rid of leptin resistance?

Losing weight very often worries about the answer to the question “how to lower leptin?”. But it has already been said above that it is easy to reduce leptin - to lose weight quickly enough, which can be done with a variety of extreme diets.

These diets do not add health, but they help to quickly burn some of the excess body fat. Decrease body fat - decreases the level of leptin. But what's the point when the brain still suffers from resistance to this hormone?

Before embarking on any fast diet, it is necessary to reduce leptin resistance, not leptin levels per se. Otherwise, the results of the diet will be noticeable only the first two days.

To increase the sensitivity of the brain to leptin, you can use several methods, which are divided into dietary and non-dietary.

Dietary Ways to Reduce Leptin Resistance

• First and most important - it is necessary to protect the body from sugars, including from the "useful" - fruit. Since exactly how.

In addition, you must completely eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your diet. It has been established that, despite the fact that these substances do not carry calories, they can increase the level of leptin and contribute to the development of resistance to it.

• Improved lipid profile(decrease in triglyceride levels). To improve the lipid profile, it is necessary, firstly, to reduce the intake of carbohydrates in the body. This has already been said above.

And, secondly, it is necessary to provide the body in the proper amount. And this is where many people who lose weight do one of the things that prevent them from losing weight - they refuse fats. And as a result, they do not lose weight, but get fat.

Nutrition with proper weight loss and preparation for it must necessarily include saturated and monounsaturated fats: butter and ghee (others, trans fats and harmful vegetable oils, a huge amount of sugars and sweeteners, flavors, preservatives, and so on, on, on. In some only .

Therefore, in order to get rid of chronic inflammation and other misfortunes that increase leptin resistance, it is necessary to exclude from your diet all industrially produced food products from pies to curds.

Increasing Leptin Sensitivity with Non-Dietary Approaches

There are only two non-dietary approaches. These are mandatory physical activity and healthy sleep, which can be achieved with the help of.

Conclusion

In most cases, excess weight and obesity are not the result of laziness or the desire to eat all the time out of greed and boredom.

Improper nutrition (not necessarily excessive) leads to the development of resistance to the satiety hormone leptin, and it is this condition that does not allow you to part with extra pounds and provokes their further accumulation.

Therefore, in order to lose weight sustainably, one should not go on fast extreme diets, but switch to a constant healthy diet. This will ensure getting rid of leptin resistance and, as a result, weight loss.