If you’ve read my blog before, you probably know that it’s not only my opinion but ever mounting research, that leads me to proclaim that one of the most important, yet most overlooked factors in losing weight is dependent upon the body’s ability to respond properly to the hormones that are largely responsible for maintaining your weight. The newest science shows that leptin resistance is the hallmark of obesity induced by a high-fat diet in rodents, and occurs naturally in obese humans. How do we put a stop to diet induced obesity?

Let’s talk about leptin and insulin…

The ensuing results that occur when attending to and normalizing the function of these two hormones can be accurately described as losing weight naturally. Leptin and insulin are two master hormones when it comes to controlling weight and body composition. When they’re allowed to work, weight management is a self-regulating system. In a recent study, very overweight mice actually doubled their amount of physical activity when the hormone leptin – which regulates appetite and energy expenditure (fat burning)- was switched on in their brain. In fact, when leptin signaling was ‘turned on’ in the brain, the study quotes, “remarkably, blood glucose levels are entirely normalized.”

Totally normalizing blood sugar? Doubling the amount of exercise one is capable of? It’s time the public was let in on this.

Diet induced, type 2 diabetes has risen in this country to levels never seen before.

It’s even infiltrated the future of the nation-our youth.

Insulin resistance…leptin resistance…. what to do? Who’s the chicken? Who’s the egg?

If the culprit of this ever growing obesity and overweight problem was a popularity contest, insulin resistance would win by a mile.

But some research is pointing to the fact that leptin resistance may be an underlying precursor to insulin resistance. We need to rethink weight loss in lieu of these observations. Of note, leptin can also be found in skeletal muscle. The increased risk of diabetes that comes with obesity ay be caused in part by increased lipid deposits in that skeletal muscle as well as the liver, creating insulin resistance. Here is a wonderful illustration showing the reversal of insulin resistance by leptin.

A new study In the  June 2009 issue of the medical journal Cell Metabolism,  shows the astounding possibilities of what can happen once leptin resistance is restored. Raise your hand if your overweight but just don’t have the energy to exercise. OK, more than a few hands went up. Now…read carefully…

In this recent study, obese lab mice with severe type 2 diabetes had their blood glucose levels restored to normal and experienced a doubling in physical activity when sensitivity to the hormone leptin was restored to a portion of their brain called the hypothalamus. So, if this was an absolute truth, then what this research is saying is this- if you can restore your body’s sensitivity to leptin, it may not only increase your ability to engage in activity that helps you lose weight (exercise), but it may also have profound effects on another very important metabolic hormone-insulin.

So again, if this study turns out to be an absolute truth, then restoring leptin’s sensitivity in the brain may  help people who are chronically overweight or obese lead more active lives by enabling them to exercise more. In my experience, it’s far too common that people are stuck in the vicious cycle of not having enough energy to exercise, which diffuses weight loss efforts and leads to ill health.

Leptin and insulin are intimately dependent upon one another, and your metabolism is dependant upon them. Lack of exercise, increased exposure to chronic stress and a diet void of  nutrient dense foods, are what creates these non-responsive states of insulin and leptin resistance.

Embarking on a path to help normalize and resensitize your body to these two powerful hormones is just plain healthy.  You experience a whole different set of outcomes from your efforts when you have your hormones working for you, rather then against you-not only for weight loss but for your entire aging process.

Tags: fat burning, hormones, insulin resistance, leptin resistance, losing weight, naturally, nutrient dense foods, obesity