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Over the next several articles I am going to educate you on the hormones Leptin and Ghrelin, and how they directly affect and relate to metabolic rate, thyroid function, digestive issues and low immunity. These hormones are a major player in achieving our desired fat levels. Lets begin… |
| Leptin is the leader of all of our hormones, the controller of virtually everything that takes place in your body. Educating yourself in the function of this hormone will make an extreme difference to your fat loss goals and overall health. Leptin is secreted primarily in your white adipose tissue or stored fat, as well as the stomach, heart, placenta, and skeletal muscle. It then travels through the blood brain barrier into the hypothalamus telling us we have enough fuel.
If Leptin is low it tells us to eat more, and if it’s high, eat less. You are probably now wondering why obese people keep eating right? That is easy, they become Leptin resistant similar to insulin resistant – refer to my earlier article. Interestingly our stored fat is actually a metabolic organ, similar to your adrenal glands and thyroid gland. When Leptin levels are high our metabolic rate increases, this relates to when we are on a good consistent nutrition plan where food is readily available, on the other hand if we starve ourselves, or calorie restrict in a bid to lose fat fast, our Leptin levels drop and our metabolic rate decreases, hence the reason why 80% of people who lose fat fast on restricted diets put all and more of the lost weight back on after returning to their regular eating patterns. Many people ignore their Leptin signals due to environmental reasons therefore become overweight and Leptin resistant, a very vicious cycle indeed. Leptin also plays a major role in regulating the function of your brain, the function of your immune system, and the coordinated efforts of all other hormones in your body – including thyroid function, adrenal function and stress, and reproductive function. Ghrelin is a hormone secreted primarily in your stomach when it is empty. After the stomach secretes Ghrelin, it travels through your blood and crosses the blood brain barrier and ends up in the hypothalamus where it then tells us we are hungry. Leptin resistance causes you to have malfunctioning Ghrelin – excessive hunger and cravings, and severe metabolic confusion. Both hormones regulate appetite and hunger, and both of them regulate homeostasis (this is your body’s ability to stay the same like a set weight point that your body always wants to be) in this case, keeping you adequately fed. When you try to lose fat, your body will probably respond by changing hormone levels so that you get hungrier. Obviously, this presents a challenge for people trying to lose fat and keep it off, generally leading to the “yo-yo dieting” phenomenon. To keep steady levels of Leptin and Ghrelin it’s of high importance to stick to a regular strength training, cardio and nutrition plan, with the key work being regular. To control Leptin and Ghrelin levels you must be consistent in all these efforts. This concludes Part 1; stay tuned for Part 2 where I will discuss how Leptin and Ghrelin relate to digestive issues that could be preventing you from losing fat. |