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Repairing your energy homeostasis is key to losing weight
by Eric Hunter
(NaturalNews) The brain regulates our energy intake and expenditure through a process called energy homeostasis. The common belief is that this homeostasis is somehow maladapted and doesn’t prevent overeating and weight gain. Thereby, constant voluntary caloric restriction is often recommended to maintain or lose weight. Little attention is often paid to dietary choices, and calorie counting is emphasized. Losing or maintaining weight this way is very difficult, unhealthy and not a long term solution. By choosing the right types of foods our energy homeostasis gets a chance to function properly.
Leptin resistance
The body’s fat stores produce a hormone called Leptin. This hormone allows for the brain to monitor the size of these stores and regulate them by appetite and energy expenditure. Leptin resistance is common in obese individuals; a condition where leptin produces a smaller response at its receptors, thereby triggering hunger and reduced energy expenditure. When this “fat thermostat” is malfunctioning, the body tries to gain weight in an attempt to increase leptin levels and improve leptin resistance.
Hunter-gatherers living on “ancestral diets” maintain healthy body weight even when they engage in a minimal amount of physical activity and have access to an abundance of food.
Studies show that even very physically active and healthy westerners have significantly higher leptin levels than people living in non-westernized settings. This indicates that the human energy homeostasis isn’t maladapted like some believe, but rather that certain aspects of our modern lifestyle, especially diet, leads to a malfunctioning energy homeostasis.
Various theories have been proposed as to how modern diets produce leptin resistance.
Lectins are sugar-binding proteins found especially in grains and legumes. These proteins are supposed to protect the plant from predators, by causing intestinal distress when consumed. Although humans tolerate a certain amount of lectins, studies show that prolonged consumption contribute to leptin resistance.
Other newer theories suggest that modern foods and especially foods with a high-carbohydrate density changes the gut flora and causes inflammation and leptin resistance.
Read the rest of the article here: Natural News
