Entries in leptin (5)

Tuesday
Apr132010

Shrink your Waist with Sleep and Protein

DateTuesday, April 13, 2010 at 9:00PM

 “I’m hungry Mother, I really am,” said the little puppy Rolly on 101 Dalmatians.

I often hear “I’m always hungry; I don’t feel full after a meal; I still want something after I eat but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Appetite is affected by both physiological and psychological issues.  Since the psychological may be a whole research paper in itself let’s stick to the physiological things you can do to keep your appetite normal and healthy.

Two hormones affecting appetite are Leptin and Ghrelin.  An easy way to remember them is leptin lowers your appetite and ghrelin grows your appetite.  When they are in sync your appetite is in line with your metabolism.  Things that can throw them off are lack of sleep and imbalances in the diet.

If your sleep is compromised it affects your hunger levels.  Eve Van Cauter at the University of Chicago has done 25 years of research on how hormones affect sleep.  Her research shows that when you are sleep deprived your leptin levels are 18% lower and your Ghrelin levels are 28 percent higher.

Her subjects also reported they were much hungrier than usual and craved salty, sweet food when they lacked sleep.  Think of late night pizza and nachos when you stayed up too long.  Craving salty, sweet food and increasing leptin and lowering ghrelin are the perfect combination for weight gain.

Appetite can also be thrown off by the wrong combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat.  David Cummings, M.D. at the University School of Medicine in Seattle found that protein was the best suppressor of appetite.  Fats seemed to have a neutral affect.

Carbohydrates initially lowered the appetite, but then rebounded later with a vengeance.  I still remember my days of eating a “healthy” bowl of cereal for breakfast only to be famished 2 hours later – unaware that it was due to a lack of protein at the most important meal of the day.

Good sources of protein include:

  • lean meats, poultry, fish
  • eggs
  • plain yogurt, cottage cheese, hard cheeses
  • nuts/seeds and nut butters

Take home message?  Getting your rest and making sure you eat some sort of protein at each meal and snack will keep your appetite even keeled.  So maybe a good idea is to eat your protein and get some rest with Rolly.  What have you got to lose…besides weight?


This piece is part of Prevention not Prescriptions

AuthorSusan Dopart | Comment1 Comment |
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Friday
Jan222010

Agave Syrup worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup

DateFriday, January 22, 2010 at 5:48PM

When I attended the National American Dietetics Association conference in Denver a few months back I heard 2 female biochemists discussing the nitty gritty of carbohydrate metabolism and how different sources of carbohydrate are digested and used by the body.

One fascinating detail they discussed was Agave syrup.  I had not paid much attention to it since I don’t recommend anything other than 100% raw sugar or honey to sweeten foods or recipes.  Most people know that high fructose corn syrup is not good for us but did you know that agave is actually more harmful?  How can that be true?

When I was at Whole Foods today I noticed how Agave is in everything from coconut ice-cream to cookies and crackers.  The power of marketing has played a large part of this phenomenon.

High fructose corn syrup is approximately 55-60% fructose and not the natural kind like in fruit.  When you consume a large percentage of this type of fructose it goes directly to the liver, which not only increases your triglyceride levels but causes fatty liver, increased hunger levels and a plethora of other health issues you would rather avoid.  High levels of fructose make your brain deaf to leptin, the hormone responsible for making you feel full.

Agave is 85-90% fructose.  According to the experts, Agave plants are crushed and the collected sap is heated to 140 degrees to concentrate the liquid into a syrup.  The heating process is necessary to hydrolyze it into fructose to obtain the desired sweetness.  Therefore, Agave is not a natural or whole real food by any sense of the imagination.  It is actually a fractionated and processed food to be avoided that comes from Mexico with very few quality controls.

AND it has more fructose than high fructose corn syrup.  If you want to sweeten a recipe or add something sweet to your hot beverage use a little sugar or honey.  Your body and liver will thank you!

AuthorSusan Dopart | Comment4 Comments |
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Sunday
Nov082009

Juice equals Soda?

DateSunday, November 8, 2009 at 4:45PM

The last 2 lectures I gave were well received, with the individuals open to knowing new information except for one thing that touched a raw nerve – my assessment of drinking juice.  This morning’s Los Angeles Times sums up what I have been saying:  drinking juice is equal to the same amount of sugar as drinking a glass of soda.  This information has not been well received.  Many people like their morning juice!

What exactly are the experts saying? Dr. Charles Billington, a researcher in obesity at the University of Minnesota, quoted in the Times article, states that juice is “pretty much the same as sugar water.”  Think of all the oranges or apples you would have to squeeze to obtain a cup of juice.  You are drinking all the sugar from the juice minus the fiber that helps stabilize your blood sugar when eating the fruit. 

Earlier this year a new study showed that women drinking juice during their pregnancies have a 37% higher rate of gestational diabetes.  Numerous studies show that a high concentration of fructose not only increases fatty liver but also makes your brain deaf to leptin, the hormone that lowers your appetite.  Studies with children drinking juice show they are more than twice as likely to have weight issues as children who don’t consume juice.

So the bottom line on juice?  Enjoy once in a while but stick to drinking water or other beverages without the extra sugar.  Your body and liver will thank you!

 

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Wednesday
Sep302009

Corn Syrup on Trial?

DateWednesday, September 30, 2009 at 4:16PM

In yesterday’s Los Angeles Times there was a full page advertisement that stated:  High Fructose Corn Syrup ACQUITTED!  I did not realize HFCS was on trial, but maybe I missed that news.  In recent months, TV ads have been telling us that corn syrup is the same as sugar.  However, what do the studies reveal?

Last week David Kessler, whose new book The End of Overeating recounted his statements of corn syrup being dangerous stating its effects were similar to sugar.  This made the Center for Consumer Freedom very happy and well as many others that make money from this “food.”  Mr. Kessler’s book is excellent.  However, I would disagree that corn syrup is similar to sugar.  Today’s LA Times had a nice summary of the arguments going back and forth.

For detailed information on HFCS see my blog April 3rd.  The bottom line manufactured corn syrup has a higher percentage of manufactured fructose which has a straight shot to the liver, thereby causing fatty liver.  In addition, when consuming high fructose corn syrup a hormone that helps you feel full called Leptin does not kick in.  Therefore, your brain does not get the signal you are indeed full, and you may continue to eat.

Fatty liver and gaining weight – not a good combination to me.  I have HFCS on my NOT TO SHOP list in my new book A Recipe for Life and this is not something I intend on going back on.

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Friday
Apr032009

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Leptin and Weight: Avoiding the Slippery Slope

DateFriday, April 3, 2009 at 6:21PM

Recent media ads informing you HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is safe might lead you to believe consuming a soft drink made with HFCS poses no health risks. When you look at the current research, nothing could be further from the truth.

To understand the truth, we need to look a little at the chemistry of different sugars and hormone interactions. HFCS was developed in the 70’s from cornstarch that is made from genetically modified corn. This process results in a product that is less expensive than sugar, and is used by the major food companies to sweeten their products – anything from sodas to jams, ketchup, juices, and processed packaged foods.

Table sugar is composed of 2 sugars – glucose and fructose. All the cells of our body can readily metabolize glucose, but fructose is only metabolized via the liver. Large amounts of fructose going to the liver causes fatty liver leading to high cholesterol and triglycerides.

Since HFCS contains more fructose than sugar, the fructose is more readily available since it is not bound up with glucose, as is the case with natural sugar. Therefore it has a straight shot to the liver.

Now enter the hormone leptin. Leptin is one of the main hormones regulating appetite. I like to state that leptin lowers your appetite. Several recent studies revealed a diet high in HFCS increased the level of triglycerides, which blocked the brain’s response to leptin.

Therefore, if your body becomes insensitive to leptin, and in fact, develops a leptin resistance, the brain will continue to signal your body it needs more food and continue to store fat.

Judith Altarejos, Ph.D. a researcher at Scripps states “obesity results when the brain becomes ‘deaf’ to the leptin signals.” If your brain is continuing to tell you to eat, you will have a hard time losing weight.

Turning this situation around is not as hard as you might think. Consuming protein at each meal and snack, along with healthy sources of carbohydrate like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and healthy fats will do wonders for turning on the leptin switch. Keeping refined processed sources of carbohydrate out of your diet is essential and necessary to keeping or restoring balance to the body.

So look for HFCS on labels and stay clear of the slippery slope. Your body and arteries will thank you.

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