Two key hormones for successful weight loss

Most people, including the vast majority of overweight people, have normal leptin levels. The problem is that there are many other hormones in our bodies that encourage us to eat more (for example, the pleasure of eating dominates), so we ignore the signals sent by leptin, which leads to losing control of eating.

Hormone No. 1-leptin

Simply put, leptin (LP) is a peptide hormone secreted by fat cells. Leptin, also known as the "satiety hormone", is a satiety signal that makes us feel "full." It is mainly distributed in the central nervous system (especially the hypothalamus) and fatty tissue of the liver, kidney, spleen, intestine, heart, testis, ovary, and skeletal muscle. It sends a signal to our brains: "I'm full, I don't need to eat anymore." If leptin plays normally, our weight can be well controlled.

Most people, including the vast majority of overweight people, have normal leptin levels. The problem is that there are many other hormones in our bodies that encourage us to eat more (for example, the pleasure of eating dominates), so we ignore the signals sent by leptin, which leads to losing control of eating. Restoring the brain's sensitivity to leptin requires a process to re-establish correct eating habits.

Hormone No. 2-hunger hormone

The growling of the hungry stomach is the hunger hormone sending out a message and shouting for something to eat. Hunger hormone transmits hunger to the hypothalamus by secreting NPY (a protein called Y neuropeptide). At this time, the metabolic level drops. In addition to feeling hungry, we also feel that our body temperature drops. The so-called hunger and cold are the same. Normally, our stomachs secrete ghrelin every 30 minutes, but usually this signal is not strong.

But if you are on a diet or you are truly hungry, the secretion of hunger hormones will increase to once every 20 minutes, and the signal will become stronger and stronger. It's hard for your perseverance to defeat instincts, so it's hard to stick to the hunger approach to weight loss. In order to reduce hunger hormone levels, we should try to have enough food in our stomachs, so eating fewer and more meals is a good way to lose weight. Weight loss is actually a battle between leptin and hunger hormone. Improving leptin sensitivity and responsiveness defeats hunger hormone. We can do this through exercise.

Reduce fat and increase muscle mass to keep leptin sensitive.

Choose the right food.

Choosing the right foods (fiber, nuts, etc.) can promote leptin secretion, while other foods (fat, sugar) can weaken leptin secretion. So we need to develop healthy eating habits.

The brain that is not always smart: Why do we want to eat sweets more and more when we eat them?

This is because the brain does not think that sugar in sweets is a regular food and ignores the calories it contains. So after finishing a sweet tooth, the brain still receives the signal from hunger hormone, so it continues to eat, the more you eat, the more you eat, the fatter you eat.

Learning more about NPY is also a stress hormone. When there is a lot of stress, NPY will accelerate its secretion, so we are often very hungry and want to eat during periods of stress.

There is also NPY not only regulates appetite but also sexual desire. It makes sense that a satisfactory sex life can avoid obesity, and when we are dissatisfied with our desires, we often vent our eating.

In order to lose weight successfully, we might as well transfer our desire to bed.

Our principle: never let yourself feel hungry! Never sign unequal treaties with your body! (Internship Editor: Yan Yugeng)