Dr. Scott Isaacs, an Atlanta-based obesity expert and endocrinologist, developed and wrote “The Leptin Boost Diet: Unleash Your Fat-Controlling Hormones for Maximum Weight Loss.” Isaacs claims that his system teaches you how to shed unwanted pounds by incorporating vitamin and mineral supplementation, physical activity and hormone-regulating methods into your daily lifestyle. This program boosts your metabolism and elevates your energy levels, according to the diet's website.
Theory
The fat cells in your body work together like a gland. Collectively, all of the fat cells in your body produce hormones that regulate your energy levels, metabolic rate, appetite and cravings. Your fat cells produce a hormone called leptin that alerts your body to stop eating when you are satiated, or full. However, although leptin can tell your brain when your body has enough fat, it cannot tell your brain when you have too much body fat. Therefore, when you gain weight, you develop leptin resistance. This condition prevents proper leptin communication between your fat cells and your brain. As a result, you feel hungry all of the time, gain even more weight and experience slower metabolism.
Isaacs does not recommend that you take any specific medications not recommended by your doctor to restore proper leptin communication between your brain and fat cells. Instead, he provides guidelines on how you can naturally correct your leptin resistance by adhering to the Leptin Boost Diet's guidelines.
Pre-Diet Recommendations
Isaacs suggests that you ask your doctor to run tests to determine if your leptin levels are too high. He also recommends that you have additional tests performed -– such as thyroid, insulin, cortisol, cholesterol and triglycerides tests -– to alert you to the state of your body's overall hormonal imbalance. All of your hormones affect the state of all of your other hormones, according to Isaacs. After you receive your test results and follow your doctor's orders to help regulate any hormonal imbalances she deems medically necessary, you begin the dietary regimen outlined in the book.
Methodology
The Leptin Boost Diet recommends that you eat three snacks and three meals per day to remain satisfied and full. He offers daily dietary guidelines to help you “fill up” on healthful foods so you will not overeat unhealthful foods. Isaacs recommends that you eat five servings of fruits per day and five servings of vegetables. He also recommends that you eat lean protein sources for your breakfast meal and mid-morning snacks. You should eat a light lunch and mid-afternoon snack, then eat a dinner composed of vegetables and proteins. Eat an evening snack to help stabilize your metabolism throughout the night, according to Isaacs.
Isaacs provides a food exchange list to better help you learn to substitute healthy proteins, carbohydrates and fats into your daily diet. You remain on the diet until you reach your ideal weight. You can continue to follow the program indefinitely to experience optimal bodily leptin communication channels and maintain your weight loss throughout your life, according to the diet book.
Considerations
Isaacs also suggests that you exercise regularly and add stress-reducing strategies into your life, if necessary. He recommends that you enlist a diet partner and drink at least eight glasses of water per day to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Expert Insight
Helen Kollias, Ph.D., director of research of Precision Nutrition, an independent nutritional research organization, voices several concerns regarding hormonal balancing diets. Leptin influences fertility and reproduction in women, which in turn affects a woman's bodily fat levels. Therefore, women are more sensitive to bodily leptin levels than men. Additionally, no single hormone controls every aspect of your appetite, bodily composition or degree of hunger. Your individual hormonal profile also might be relatively different from most people's. Therefore, you cannot count solely upon high- or low-leptin levels to determine your personal metabolic profile.
Kollias does agree with Isaacs' stance on obtaining social support for your diet and elevating your physical activity to assist your weight-loss efforts. However, she also recommends that you get adequate sleep each night, take omega-3 fish oil supplements to help curb your appetite and accept that it is normal to feel hungrier than usual while attempting to lose weight.
Warning
Ask your doctor if the Leptin Boost Diet will enhance any existing medical treatment plan before you begin the program. Your doctor might suggest that you follow another program that better meets your individual nutritional needs.
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