Fitness
11:48
Learn to control leptin levels to lose weight
To lose weight and achieve a healthy life it is important not only to follow a balanced diet and exercise routine, but it is also essential that you know and understand how your body works. Understanding what we are made of, how we work and why our metabolism reacts in one way or another, gives us the necessary tools to meet our goal.
In this attempt to make an x-ray of our body a transcendental last appears to control our weight: leptin.
This hormone is responsible for regulating your appetite and the percentage of body fat in your body. It acts like a lipostat, that is, when the amount of fat stored in the adipocytes increases, leptin is released into the bloodstream, to inform the hypothalamus and that endocrine mechanism are activated to reduce appetite.
In 1994, leptin was discovered and since then it began to investigate how it influenced the hormonal mechanisms involved in the regulation of appetite, food consumption, storage in adipose tissue and in the development of insulin resistance.
The amount of leptin in our body is proportional to that of our adipose tissue, that is, the more fat and body weight plus leptin circulates in our body.
The leptin circulates bound to a protein and has the following functions that can help control weight:
- Inhibits at the brain level and in other tissues the production of neurotransmitters and hormones that signal hunger or increase appetite and the desire to eat, for example, its presence inhibits the release of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates us to eat.
- Promotes satiety and reduces the desire to eat by stimulating the production of peptides that are responsible for sending the message of satiety or the absence of hunger.
- Promotes energy expenditure and the elevation of metabolism by its participation in the release of thyroid hormones and also stimulates thermogenesis, with the help of the sympathetic nervous system. In other words, it helps heat production that consumes calories.
How to activate it :
- Say no to simple, refined carbohydrates and hidden sugars. The reason is that they increase insulin levels, favoring insulin resistance and interfering with your leptin production.
- Include protein in your breakfast. This makes your leptin levels good from the beginning of the day.
- Take a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids to increase your body's sensitivity to leptin, making it more receptive to it. And they are also excellent for your heart and cholesterol levels.
- Follow a balanced diet: leptin is closely related to weight control and insulin. The ideal diet to favor leptin should be high in unsaturated fat, moderate in carbohydrates of favorable glycemic index, moderate in lean proteins and low in fructose.
- Eat foods rich in zinc. Studies show that people with leptin deficiency usually also have a zinc deficiency. Very common in people with obesity.
- Learn to relax to reduce stress levels, which activate cortisol, a hormone that reduces leptin levels and promotes insulin resistance and obesity.
- Sleep at least 7-8 hours, as sleep regulates the levels of leptin and ghrelin (ghrelin is the hormone that tells your body that you are hungry). If you don't get enough rest, your body starts producing ghrelin and stops producing leptin.
- Train alternatively, cardiovascular routines of moderate duration and concentrated muscle toning. But eye too much cardiovascular exercise increases cortisol levels.