If your search for an effective way to lose weight continues, there's no shortage of diets on the market that claim to provide the answer, once and for all. The leptin diet offers yet another solution, claiming leptin control is the key to shedding pounds. Leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, suppresses the appetite, so It seems to make sense to harness that ability for weight loss. The problem is that it may not be so easy to do that. Consult your physician before starting this or any diet.
The Claims
The premise behind the leptin diet is simple: Leptin is the culprit behind overeating, cravings, hunger and heart disease, so controlling leptin leads to weight loss and optimum health. The diet's developer, Byron J. Richards, claims that his diet plan and recommended supplements will control leptin and provide the key to permanent weight management. Richards also claims the leptin diet will increase energy and improve cardiovascular fitness, digestion and immune function.
The Plan
To comply with the leptin diet, you need to follow five rules set forth by the diet's author: Never eat after dinner; eat three meals a day; don't eat large meals; include protein in your breakfast; and reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat. Dieters must allow 11 or 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, wait five or six hours between meals and avoid snacks. Instead of counting calories, at meals a dieter simply eats palm-size portions of both protein and carbohydrates and consumes as much high-fiber vegetables as he desires. A fiber supplement is recommended to control hunger, insulin and leptin. Meal timing, which is supposed to control hormone levels, is considered just as important as food choices. Several supplements designed by Richards are available for purchase to increase the diet's effectiveness.
Leptin Science
Since leptin levels are related to the amount of fat you have, a lack of leptin isn't usually the problem if you're carrying excess weight. It may be leptin resistance, which makes your brain less sensitive to leptin's weight-controlling effects. In addition, as you lose pounds, your leptin level drops and hunger increases, making you constantly fight the urge to eat more. Leptin is not the only hormone that regulates your appetite. Grehlin, another hormone, is believed to stimulate hunger immediately before you eat a meal, while leptin has a longer-term effect and determines the amount of fat you carry. Scientists continue to search for ways to make leptin useful for weight loss.
Expert Opinion
There is a lack of evidence regarding the influence of different nutrients on the amount of leptin your body makes, according to Jeffrey Friedman, head of the laboratory of molecular genetics at Rockefeller University in New York, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Friedman says weight is determined by complex and powerful biological forces that make it hard to lose weight and keep it off, and the ability to overcome these forces with conscious motivation varies from one person to another.
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