Hormones control our feeling of fullness, but are we able to tune into them if we never feel hungry? Listen to this weeks podcast to find out more
When was the last time you were hungry?
That rumbling feeling in your stomach followed by a slight discomfort if you don’t eat straight away. Those are the signals that we should be feeling before we eat.
However in modern times we eat to a schedule. We have forgotten to eat based on when we are hungry or need food. We like to call it intuitive eating and I explored this way back in episode 91.
Are we becoming resistant to our fullness indicators.?
I’ve had several conversations of late with friends about feeling full, or their inability to feel full. They explain it like not having an off switch and that they can just keep on eating. And then I did some training and reading around leptin resistance.
Leptin is the hormone that signals to your brain that you feel full. We have many hormones in our bodies and they all act as messengers, leptin is created in our fat cells and its supposed to tell your brain that you either have enough fat cells you don’t need to eat and you can burn calories at your normal rate. It’s part of our innate survival hormones and is supposed to stop you starving or overeating – neither of which would have been helpful in early evolution.
The brain responds to leptin by either encouraging you to eat more or less dependent on how much body fat you have stored.
Larger amounts of stored fat leads to higher levels of leptin.
As leptin is produced in our fat cells the more body fat you have the more leptin you produce.
In modern society we have been ignoring our signals and eating foods when we are not hungry, not only that but the food industry has created foods that seem to allow us to override those signals by having that perfect balance of sweet/salty/fatty foods. Again this is part of our survival mechanisms. But food has evolved quicker than man.
What is leptin resistance?
If our bodies natural homeostasis (balance) is working leptin will naturally control our body weight. However I refer back to my first question, when was the last time you felt hungry?
We are simply not listening to our bodies, and as the stored fat increases so does leptin. Just like insulin resistance leading to Type2 Diabetes it is now believed that leptin resistance could be driving higher body weights and some peoples inability to lose weight.
What can you do to help yourself?
Leptin resistance doesn’t happen overnight, so it is foolish to believe that we can solve it overnight. It will take time and patience. And if you are trying to lose some weight, dieting and restriction can actually further drive the issue. If you are constantly yo-yoing and starving yourself your levels of leptin might drop significantly and this would signal your brain to encourage you to eat. Thus the vicious cycle of losing weight only to gain it back and more.
Simple long term adjustments are the way forward:
- Eat real food. The processed foods we are eating are driving this issue so the first step is to introduce whole, real foods to your diet.
- Stopping snacking between meals and being comfortable with feeling a bit hungry from time to time. Getting more intuitive with your body.
- Eat smaller portions – putting a realistic amount of food on your plate and sticking to it.
- Sleep – poor sleep is also indicated with issues with leptin balance
- Exercise – studies have shown that exercise along with changes in diet have had the most significant effect on reducing leptin levels.
What do you think of this episode? Let me know!
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Want to know more about ways to work with me?
There are many ways that you can work with me to balance your hormones and improve your health and wellbeing.
I have a fabulous free community on Facebook Fab Female Nutrition Club I offer lots of support and advice on female health and wellbeing. I also love to cook and create recipes and I’ll often be seen in the group cooking live and sharing all the wonderful health benefits of the ingredients used.
Several times a year I work with groups of ladies to transform their health and wellbeing. Appropriately called The Transformation Program they can help with many different issues and have had hugely impressive results – including up to 100% reduction in symptoms. If you suffer with IBS, fatigue, inflammation, hormonal imbalances or just want to spend some time concentrating on your health and wellbeing they are fabulous value and great fun.
If you feel like you need a more bespoke option, then I also offer 1:1 coaching and support. Working with your specific needs creating nutritional protocols that support your health goals. This is an fully supported program that last 6 months. We take a full health history, then create and refine protocols so that you learn about your body and how to support it. I will be with you every step of the way to guide you and ensure that you realise your true health potential. Find out more here.