Several years ago, I met Ron Rosedale, M.D., a nationally respected physician in the field of nutritional and metabolic medicine. As we talked, I learned that it was Dr. Rosedale personal mission to eradicate type II diabetes in this country, in his lifetime. And one of the intriguing weapons in his diabetes arsenal is his work with leptin, a little known hormone that helps your cells communicate.
As Dr. Rosedale explained, leptin is a very powerful and influential hormone produced by your fat cells. It works in conjunction with insulin to control the quality of your metabolism. While insulin works mostly at the individual cell level, telling the vast majority of cells whether to burn or store fat or sugar, and how to use that energy, leptin controls the energy storage and utilization of all of the cells in your body, allowing them to communicate with your brain about how much energy (fat) you have stored, and whether you need more or should burn some off.
One of the key ways leptin controls energy storage is by controlling hunger (i.e. appetite control). Trying to restrict calories in the face of hunger is virtually impossible (and could set you up for an eating disorder). The only way to truly eat less for the long-term is to not be hungry. And the key to appetite control is to control the hormones that regulate appetite namely leptin.
In addition to helping with appetite control, leptin can also determine where you store your fat. If you are deaf (or resistant) to leptins signals, you tend to lose appetite control and pack on the pounds. And, in the case of leptin resistance, these pounds tend to store in your abdomen in the form of visceral fat.
Visceral or abdominal fat is one characteristic of the apple body shape. And its very dangerous. Not only does it pack in around your organs, it is also metabolically active. It decreases insulin sensitivity (making diabetes more likely), increases triglycerides, decreases levels of good HDL cholesterol, creates more inflammation and blood clotting, and raises blood pressureall of which increase your risk of heart disease.
The answer is to tune in leptins message so you can regain appetite control, lose the belly fat, and begin to enjoy healthy, natural weightloss.