August 9, 2016

Night Time Eating? Your Hunger Hormone Might be Broken!

Nutrigal News, Workshops belly fat, leptin, weight loss 0

Did you know that leptin is a hormone made and released by your fat cells in direct proportion to the amount of body fat you are carrying? When leptin is working properly, it signals to your hypothalamus – “Stop eating, you’ve had enough.” The message to your brain is, you’ve stored enough energy, you can stop eating now. So it’s leptin that controls the feelings of hunger and satiety; it also has actions related to fertility, immunity, and brain function.

Overweight people have higher amounts of circulating leptin in their bloodstream than leaner people because they have more fat cells producing leptin. You might conclude that overweight people should therefore have less hunger, eat less, and be able to lose weight more easily. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Hormones do not act alone. Leptin affects all other hormones, which means when we follow a low calorie diet we see a myriad of hormone imbalances causing havoc with fertility, menstruation, sex drive, and immune function.

So why are so many people overweight? Why are heavy people still hungry? Why do we so often gain the weight back after we lose it?

Leptin Insensitivity

Over time, when your system is exposed to too much leptin, it becomes resistant – just as you can become resistant to the hormone insulin.

Check out Video Below!

How do we become leptin resistant?

Eating a typical North American diet, high in refined foods and junk food, causes insulin levels to ramp up thereby creating more fat cells.
Our bodies secrete leptin as fat cells increase and signal the hypothalamus that adequate energy (fat) has been stored.
Hunger and satiety should be relieved and excess fat stored for energy.
Too much fat storage causes more leptin to circulate in the blood stream.
The brain then becomes resistant to leptin; similar to insulin resistance, the body stops responding to leptin’s signals.
When the brain does not receive the leptin signal, it erroneously thinks the body is starving.
Leptin resistance is experienced as starvation causing a number of mechanisms and hormone pathways to activate, in turn increasing fat stores instead of burning excess fat
Exerting willpower over the leptin-driven starvation signal is next to impossible.
Fad diets and quick fixes that severely restrict calories cause leptin levels to drop significantly making overweight individuals hungry all the time.
Diet measures fail and the person is left feeling tired, hungry, and defeated, feelings that often trigger emotional over-eating.

Symptoms of leptin insensitivity:

Belly fat
Feeling unsatisfied and hungry all the time
Constant sugar cravings
Night time eating
Stubborn weight gain
Elevated evening cortisol – please read my blog on adrenal fatigue
Thyroid imbalance symptoms despite a normal TSH result

6 fixes right here, right now!

Eat Protein: many studies indicate that a higher protein intake can reduce weight. This may be linked to reducing leptin insensitivity.
Add Fat: specifically Omega-3 and healthy saturated fats like coconut oil, or butter from grass-fed cattle.
Eat Soluble Fibre: for example legumes, wild rice, oat bran, etcetera, will improve your gut health and may protect against obesity.
Get Physical: activity may help to reverse leptin resistance.
Sleep: poor sleep has been linked to weight gain and leptin resistance.
Ask your doctor to check your triglyceride levels: the best way to lower triglycerides is to reduce carbohydrate, sugar, and alcohol intake.

If this all sounds daunting know that you are not alone. It is also why I made it my mission to help women like you get your energy, health, and joy back.

There are two ways that you can help yourself today:

Down Load my Free EBook to Find Out Which Hormones Could be Creating Your Weight Gain.

Does this sound familiar? You just woke up from another restless nights sleep. You look in the mirror and think that you just can’t face another day feeling this tired. You hate that weight has suddenly appeared around your middle yet feeling possessed you just cannot stop eating carbs. Guess what? It’s not you, it’s your hormones. Start your journey to better health today by clicking on the picture to the right to immediately receive your FREE EBook.

Join my Facebook Community: Hormone Hangout With Nutrigal

Hormone Hangout with Nutrigal is a closed Facebook community of women looking for nutritional solutions to the hormone-related changes of perimenopause and menopause such as weight gain, insomnia, fatigue and mood changes. It’s a community of women supporting women through frank & fun conversation. Just click the link above to join the conversation.