Imagine there was a way to control your appetite, and lose weight without restricting your calories or exercising and eating as much as you want?
Introducing your new best friend: leptin. What the heck is leptin? It is a critical hormone that is produced by your fat cells, and binds to receptor sites in the hypothalamus of the brain to indicate energy storage status. It is responsible in regulating energy homeostasis, so that the appropriate amount of energy is stored; no more and no less. As fat storage increases throughout a day of feeding, leptin levels rise, indicating increased energy storage. Once the brain receives that signal, a secondary signal is sent to the thyroid to upregulate the metabolism. When fat storage does not increase due to a lack of feeding throughout the day, leptin levels remain low, so the receptor in the hypothalamus is not activated, therefore no signal is sent to the thyroid to upregulate the metabolism. This is how humans maintain bodyweight and prevent nutrient excess, or nutrient deficits. Leptin also regulates hunger for this exact purpose; when leptin levels are high and reach the receptor in the hypothalamus, hunger is decreased, and when leptin levels are low, hunger is increased.
With this mechanism in place, we do not need to count calories, because leptin already does this for us. What happens when you become overweight, and can’t seem to lose excess fat? Something is blocking leptin from reaching that receptor in the hypothalamus to send that signal to the thyroid. This means you will feel hungry, and eat an inappropriate amount of food, with no ability to upregulate your metabolism to burn off excess fat that your body does not need. If this describes you, you need to re-establish your relationship with leptin, your new best friend.
In the 1990s leptin was discovered through the identification of a genetic mutation found in obese mice: the ob gene. Mice with this mutation had chronically low leptin levels, leading to a decreased metabolism and insatiable hunger levels resulting in obesity. These mice were successfully treated by administering synthetic leptin. Upon this discovery, it was thought that leptin was the miracle cure for obesity, only there was one problem: obese humans had their serum leptin levels measured as high, not low. This lead to the discovery of leptin resistance, meaning that leptin levels were high in the blood, but it was obviously not reaching the brain to activate its receptor to carry out its action: to suppress appetite and burn off excess fat.
So how does leptin resistance occur? What blocks leptin from activating the receptor? A very wise neurosurgeon named Dr. Jack Kruse has solved this riddle for us. He defines obesity as an inflammatory brain disease; and leptin resistance is what can lead to obesity, therefore inflammation in the brain is the root cause. He has developed a treatment known as the Leptin Rx, which he describes as conducting brain surgery on yourself without a scapel. He used this Rx on himself many years ago to lose 133 lbs in 11 months by strategically reducing inflammation in the brain to resensitize the leptin receptor so he could burn off his excess fat. He achieved this success by eating more and exercising less, which is completely counterintuitive to conventional wisdom. The key was not to restrict calories (how are you supposed to eat less when you are leptin resistant and have an unsatiable appetite?) but to re-establish his brain’s relationship with leptin. This was achieved through resynchronizing the circadian rhythm by controlling WHEN to eat rather than WHAT or HOW much to eat as well as abiding by natural light cycles. Additionally, he unburried an ancient, evolutionary metabolic pathway that is induced by cold exposure.
I won’t get into this "secret" pathway in this blog, but you can read all about it here. I will however outline Jack Kruse’s Leptin Rx below, although you can read it here.
STEP 1 – The BAB (Big Ass Breakfast):
-Eat within 30 minutes of rising
-Eat 50-75g of protein
-Limit carbs to 25g
-Eat as much fat with your protein as you want
-Do not count calories, just aim for your protein
The goal here is to crush hunger before it hits. When you are leptin resistant, you are always hungry, and protein has the most satiating effect. A sample meal would be: a 5-egg omlette with veggies and cheese cooked in butter or coconut oil, and 5 slices of bacon. That should crush your hunger pretty good!
STEP 2 – NO Snacking:
STEP 2 – NO Snacking:
-You really shouldn’t need to snack if your breakfast was big enough
STEP 3 – Remaining Meals:
-You can eat lunch, but follow your hunger cues (if not hungry, skip it)
-Make sure to eat dinner before sunset, and allow 4-5 hours between your last bite and bed time
-Make sure to eat dinner before sunset, and allow 4-5 hours between your last bite and bed time
-Focus on fats and proteins and go low on carbs
Carbs are not the enemy, but you will not handle them well when you are leptin resistant, so it’s best to go easy on them, and focus on fat and protein.
STEP 4 – Exercise:
-Exercise can hurt you when you are leptin resistant
-If you must exercise at all, do so just before dinner
As you improve and become more leptin sensitive, exercise becomes more beneficial. Use your judgment on when you feel it is safe to exercise (listen to your body).
STEP 5 – Light:
-Get as much natural light as possible during the day
-Minimize artificial lighting at night, and make your room as dark as possible when you sleep
This helps resynchronize your circadian rhythm so leptin can function normally.
STEP 6 – Cold:
-Begin a cold thermogenesis protocol:
-Start with face dunks in cold water
-Once you are comfortable with this, try cold showers (start warm, and gradually turn knob to cold)
-Once you can tolerate a full duration of a cold shower, try cold soaks in the tub
-Work your way up to 30 mins in the tub, and once tolerable, add ice
-Incorporate these cold thermogenesis sessions 3-5x per week
Becoming cold adapted allows you to activate an ancient pathway that is built in to all mammals. It is a hibernating pathway that allows us to burn massive amounts of fat. As Jack states, the cold empties fat stores quicker than an evacuation of a building on fire.
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