Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that should be in balance with each other, they both work when it is needed on satiety (leptin) and hunger (ghrelin). In this piece more about the leptin hormone and weight loss.
Leptin is in fact a very important hormone when it comes to losing weight. The main role of leptin is to regulate the long-term energy balance, i.e. the amount of calories we eat and burn and how much fat we store.
Leptin ensuresthat we do not overeat or undereat. This hormone is made in the fat cells, so you would say the more fat you have the more leptin hormone and therefore enough satiety from eating. However, many people with a high fat percentage suffer from leptin resistance. If you make too much leptin over a long period of time, your body becomes insensitive to this hormone and you have very little feeling of satiation. The chance that you will want to eat more is great. With a high fat percentage you also often have a high ghrelin hormone, which makes you want to eat more. So you are out of balance and losing weight will be difficult.
If you want to lose weight you want to be saturated enough during the day if you are in a negative calorie balance (eat less kcal than you consume). Otherwise your willpower will run out faster (exhaustible source) and you will fall back into a positive calorie balance.
Do not follow strict diets! When you follow long crash diets, your leptin and ghrelin hormone are actually disrupted, so that you no longer feel good or are saturated or hungry. So this is doomed to fail in the long term.
For leptin to function properly, it is important that there are not too many triglycerides circulating in your body. These are particles of fat in your bloodstream. Increases in triglycerides are mainly caused by alcohol, all sugars (mainly refined and fructose), junk food and processed foods. To get your sense of satiety back on track, you need to reduce the amount of triglycerides. So be careful with sweet fruit (fructose). Moderate alcohol consumption, plenty of protein, healthy fats, high-fibre food and a reduction in carbohydrates is a very good step towards regaining sensitivity to leptin and being more satiated. Want to know more about your own hormonal status? Check out PersonalTrainerforHealth or send an email to personaltrainerforhealth@gmail.com.