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metabolic syndrome

leptin_resistance_thyroidContrary to popular belief, there are plenty of people who try to exercise and eat right and still can’t lose weight.

Though most recent literature continues to show that the majority of overweight people suffer from a condition called ‘leptin resistance,’ it’s still unknown to the majority who suffer from it,  yet it’s the very hurdle that thwarts bold efforts to lose weight.

More research has turned up exposing leptin resistance and reverse T3 (a thyroid hormone which can lower your metabolism) as primary factors in the battle to lose weight and as big factors in the CAUSE of excessive weight gain.

Leptin resistance can contribute to reverse T3 production and that undermines your thyroids attempt at regulating your metabolism. When these metabolic self-regulating systems are upset, it makes it nearly impossible to lose weight and highly probable that you’ll gain weight, despite your efforts- rendering will power virtually useless.

There’s a lot to be said for the adage which promises that if you take in less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. I would agree that statement holds true for most anyone that has a normally functioning, healthy body.

But the issue  that seems to be eluding even the most learned of advisers and dieters when attempting to be successful at weight loss is this… people who are overweight just don’t have normally functioning healthy bodies.

In fact, in my experience, most all patients I’ve dealt with who are chronically overweight, have an endocrine or metabolic syndrome or dysfunction. And unfortunately it can sabotage and diminish the effects of exercise and eating right.

Dr. Kent Holtorf, medical director at Holtorf Medical Group, says that weight gain and the inability to lose weight “is not simply a problem that individuals are taking in more calories … or lack of exercise or willpower.”

Meaning that there may be more to it than the simple “calories in” vs. “calories out” theory.

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Visceral fat is fat that surrounds your organs inside your abdominal cavity. Visceral fat is thought to be more dangerous than fat in other locations of the body, such as the fat found in many women’s thighs that causes cellulite. Cellulite fat is not visceral fat, but rather is called subcutaneous fat.

The reason why visceral fat is so bad is that visceral fat increases your chances of developing metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and diabetes. And you already know that once you start down these unhealthy paths, it’s important to stop these processes from occurring, otherwise you’re on a fast track to heart disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, aging fast, and even cancer.

72472151Right now you can determine if you are suffering from visceral fat simply by looking in the mirror. If you see a large belly or that most of your weight is around the middle, you have packed on some serious poundage of visceral fat.

In one study reported in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found that those who did not exercise had a 8.6% increase in visceral fat in only 6 months. That’s amazing!

An exercise program that included a brisk 30-minute walk six days a week, prevented the accumulation of visceral fat. More exercise than the 30-minute walk reversed the visceral fat accumulation.

Sources: Cris A. Slentz, Lori B. Aiken, Joseph A. Houmard, Connie W. Bales, Johanna L. Johnson, Charles J. Tanner, Brian D. Duscha, and William E. Kraus Inactivity, exercise, and visceral fat. STRRIDE: a randomized, controlled study of exercise intensity and amount. J Appl Physiol, Oct 2005; 99: 1613-1618.

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