Leptin is a powerful hormone produced in your body.
It controls your appetite.
When it is created, your brain gets the signal you are satisfied and don’t need to eat.
Excessive Hunger Getting In The Way
I don’t like the idea of only eating less to lose weight.
But for many people I talk to, they have bouts of extreme hunger. And it can be overwhelming.
Too little of this hormone, and you can have an almost complete inability to lose weight.
Just because you’re hungry all the time.
What Affects It?
Low calorie diets.
That’s the main culprit.
Leptin is triggered by receptors in the stomach stretching when food fills it up.
But only up to a certain point.
So, overeating is not a way to get “excess leptin”.
High Fructose Corn Syrup.
As far as leptin goes, it suppresses leptin
And is in almost all food today.
It has completely replaced sugar.
And it’s in “natural” food products and “diet” food products as well.
Not to mention “kids” food products.
It is the most difficult substance to avoid because it is in everything.
Even condiments like:
- Ketchup…
- Worcestershire Sauce…
- A1 Steak Sauce…
- Dips…
- Salad dressings…
- Fruit juices…
- Gatorade (and drinks like it)
- and all sodas…
Lack of sleep
This is a new branch of study but the data supporting it is growing.
Medical scientists from Stanford and other universities found people who consistently slept five hours or less per night had, on average, about 15% less leptin than those who slept 8 hour nights.
They also had about 15% more ghrelin (the opposing hormone which causes hunger).
They also demonstrated the less you sleep, the more you weigh.
There is also some new research about the production of this “I’m full” hormone during sleep.
During sleep, melatonin is created.
When melatonin interacts with insulin, it increases leptin and decreases appetite.
[…] consistently slept five hours or less per night had on average about 15% more Ghrelin and 15% less leptin levels than those who slept 8-hour […]