Understanding Motility and Prokinetics in Gut Health

“Leptin” 

Leptin is a hormone that is produced by the body’s fat cells .

It is often referred to as the “satiety hormone” or the “starvation hormone.”

Leptin’s primary target is in the brain, particularly an area called the hypothalamus.

Leptin is supposed to tell the brain that we have enough fat stored, that we don’t need to eat, and that we can burn calories at a normal rate.

It also has many other functions related to fertility, immunity, brain function and others (5).

However, leptin’s main role is long-term regulation of energy balance… the amount of calories we eat and expend, and how much fat we store on our bodies .

The leptin system evolved to keep us from starving or overeating, both of which would have made us less likely to survive in the natural environment.

These days, leptin is very effective at keeping us from starving. But something is broken in the mechanism that is supposed to prevent us from overeating.

Bottom Line: Leptin is a hormone that is produced by the fat cells in the body. Its main role is regulating how many calories we eat and burn, as well as how much fat we carry on our bodies.

Losing Weight Reduces Leptin, so The Brain Tries to Gain The Weight Back

Most “diets” don’t provide good long-term results. This is a well known problem in weight loss studies.

Diets are so ineffective that whenever someone goes from obese to thin, it is seen as newsworthy material.

The truth is… when it comes to losing weight, long-term success is the exception, NOT the rule.

There are many possible reasons for this, but the research is showing that leptin may have a lot to do with it

Losing weight reduces fat mass, which leads to a significant reduction in leptin levels, but the brain doesn’t necessarily reverse its leptin resistance.

When leptin goes down, this leads to hunger, increased appetite, reduced motivation to exercise and decreased amount of calories burned at rest .

Basically, the reduced leptin makes the brain think it is starving… so it initiates all sorts of powerful mechanisms to regain that lost body fat, erroneously thinking that it is protecting us from starvation.

In other words, the brain actively defends the higher amount of fat mass, using strong biochemical forces that compel us to eat back the lost weight.

The majority of dieters will be familiar with this… weight loss is often easy in the beginning, especially when motivation is high, but very soon hunger, cravings and a reduced desire for exercise set in.

This is the main reason so many people “yo-yo” diet… they lose a significant amount of weight, only to gain it back (and then some).

Bottom Line: When people lose fat, leptin levels decrease significantly. The brain interprets this as a starvation signal, changing our biology and behavior to make us regain the lost fat.

What causes Leptin Resistance

Inflammation: Inflammatory signalling in the hypothalamus is likely an important cause of leptin resistance in both animals and humans.

Free Fatty Acids: Having elevated free fatty acids in the bloodstream may increase fat metabolites in the brain and interfere with leptin signalling.

Having high leptin: Having elevated levels of leptin in the first place seems to cause leptin resistance.

Pretty much all of these factors are increased in obesity… so this may form a vicious cycle where people get fatter and increasingly more leptin resistant over time.

Bottom Line: Potential causes of leptin resistance include inflammation, elevated free fatty acids and high leptin levels. All three are increased in obesity.

There are several things you can do:

Avoid processed food: Highly processed foods may compromise the integrity of the gut and drive inflammation .

Eat Soluble Fiber: Eating soluble fiber can help improve gut health and may protect against obesity .

Exercise: Physical activity may help to reverse leptin resistance .

Sleep: Poor sleep has been implicated in problems with leptin .

Lower your triglycerides: Having high blood triglycerides can prevent the transport of leptin from blood and into the brain . The best way to lower triglycerides is to reduce carbohydrate intake .

Eat Protein: Eating plenty of protein can cause automatic weight loss. There are many reason for that, one of them may be an improvement in leptin sensitivity .