Controlling Lifestyle and Hormones is Key to Successful Weight Loss
The human body is very complex, having evolved over generations to respond to signals delivered from our environment, lifestyle and diet.
We have developed a finely tuned hormonal balance system which regulates many critical functions throughout our body, including how we store or burn body fat for energy. The food we eat and our particular life habits have a significant effect on our ability to lose weight and keep it off permanently.
Appetite Hormones in Control of Fat Metabolism
The appetite controlling hormones, leptin and ghrelin provide a powerful signal to the brain which determines whether calories and fat are converted to triglycerides for storage or used as a source of energy. The two hormones are tightly connected as they continually communicate based on our food choices, meal timing and degree of insulin resistance.
Leptin and Ghrelin Affect Weight Regain
The results of a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism show that the levels of leptin and ghrelin before beginning a new diet may predetermine your ability to sustain weight loss. Specifically, increased levels of leptin and lower concentrations of ghrelin before dieting correlated with weight loss which could not be maintained by study participants.
Making Changes That Affect Permanent Weight Loss
Since leptin and ghrelin were discovered by researchers over the last 10 to 20 years, so much remains to be learned about these potent appetite and fat metabolizing hormones.
While research continues at breakneck speed to understand how the pair functions at the cellular level, scientists learned early on that popping a leptin or ghrelin pill had no effect on weight loss or altering concentrations of the hormones in the blood. The only way to make these hormones work in your favor is to make the following dietary and lifestyle changes.
Lifestyle Change 1: No Food after 7 PM
Food digestion requires large amounts of energy and resources from your body. When you eat late at night, this process takes precedence over other important maintenance functions which normally occur overnight. Further, your body burns fat as you sleep, which is hampered when you go to bed with a full stomach.
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