What is Leptin Resistance & How Can You Reverse it?

In a world full of endless diets, gyms, weight loss programs, personal trainers & Peloton’s, the means of getting healthy are hard to miss.  Despite all of the access and all of the information out there, why are we sicker and heavier and still trending in the wrong direction?

Do you struggle with losing weight?

Do you feel like you're constantly hungry or craving food?

So what’s the problem?

Most typical weight loss programs are missing vital components of health! Rather than taking a health centric approach, they take a tunnel visioned weight centric approach that overlooks the ‘why’ in weight gain.  When people and most weight loss programs are marketed, solely focus on weight, they miss the mark on creating better health and habits that are actually sustainable.  Is it any wonder then why results don’t last? Like many ailments, weight loss is a symptom of something deeper going on metabolically. In my work with clients, when we collaborate on rebalancing the body to create health and vitality, weight loss becomes a natural by-product of improved health. The two go hand-in-hand: 

Weight loss  ≠  Health 

Get Healthy  🠊  Weight Comes off naturally

Have you made changes & still not feeling much ‘change’?

If you’ve made changes, such as staying active and eating clean, yet still cannot lose the weight, it may be a sign of other imbalances in the body.  Things like hormonal imbalances, cortisol, low thyroid function, poor gut health and toxicity can all impact whether weight is lost and kept off or if you end up right back where you started. 

This is why many weight loss programs don’t have good success rates and those who do lose weight usually don’t keep the weight off for too long. Statistically, after two years, 50% of people regain half of the weight they lost and after five years, a staggering 80% of the weight lost was regained.

Image below courtesy of: Hall KD, Kahan S. Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. Med Clin North Am. 2018 Jan;102(1):183-197

If you, like so many, have you tried countless diets and not seen success, or find yourself unable to stick with healthy changes, one overlooked factor may be leptin resistance.

What is leptin?

Leptin is the hormone that governs appetite control.  It’s a signaling molecule released by fat cells to tell your body that you’re full. Leptin promotes satiety and modulates energy balance and weight by communicating to the brain that our body’s have enough energy and food and that we should stop eating.  

Things like excess food intake, especially sugars, over stimulate leptin release. Additionally, the higher the quantity of fat cells in the body, the more leptin is released. Yes, you read that correctly, fat cells secrete leptin.  Chronic leptin release can have serious consequences.

What is leptin resistance?

Over time, after constant stimulation of leptin, the body stops responding to leptin all together.  This results in never feeling the sensation of being full or satiated, causing you to eat more and more.  Since leptin is stimulated by excess energy, such as a meal, leptin resistance essentially causes the cells not to receive leptin, making you think that you’re hungry when, in fact, your body is satiated.  This ‘perceived’ starvation results in continued consumption which leads to weight gain and further leptin resistance.

Leptin resistance not only leads to weight gain and obesity, but decreases metabolism as well which creates long term difficulty losing weight. If you’re experiencing constant hunger and increased food intake, you may be dealing with leptin resistance.

Leptin resistance has been associated with elevated blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, metabolic syndrome and blood sugar dysregulation.

What can you do to improve leptin levels and sensitivity today:

• Assessment by a qualified health professional

• Better sleep habits: clean up your sleep routine and avoid eating, exercising or screen time too close to bedtime

• Mitigate stress using self care time to meditate or simply learn to use breathing techniques to counter stress in-the-moment

• Control Inflammation - consume anti-inflammatory foods, such as a Mediterranean Diet; use indoor grounding mats to reduce lower chronic inflammation

• Don’t overeat, even during single meals

• Avoid processed foods such as processed foods containing refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or Agave, which is mostly fructose

• Avoid high fructose foods such as soda, fruit juices, dried fruits, condiments and salad dressings

• Sulforaphane, found in cruciferous vegetables, has shown some evidence of reducing weight in cases of hyperleptinemia

Tommy Markov is a Functional Nutrition Professional and Wellness Educator with a Master’s in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. He specializes in healing the person, not the condition. He is passionate about uncovering the root cause of his client’s ailments and incorporating an integrative mind-body approach.  

Tommy’s knowledge of the interconnectedness of body systems helps him identify imbalances before they manifest into dysfunction and disease, allowing for an effective preventative approach.

Tommy has been working in the health and fitness industry since his 20’s, ranging from health clubs, hospitals, medical practices to currently founding his own thriving practice, Living Wellness Solutions, after overcoming his own health challenges.  

Tommy became a proud partner of F.L.O.W. Wellness Center in Abington, Pennsylvania, where he incorporates Functional Medicine and Nutrition along with various other healing modalities and practitioners.