Similar to Insulin Resistance, Leptin Resistance is a hormonal mal-adaptation where cell receptors ignore hormone signals. It’s like the Boy Who Cried Wolf. The townspeople ignore his false cries after a while (and we all know how that ends. 🐺)
This closed receptor door now creates an overproduction of hormones. This surplus then needs to GO somewhere because the body won’t let excessive amounts of active hormones just circulate in the bloodstream.
In the case of insulin – the storage place is in fat cells (after muscle and liver capacity is reached). In the case of leptin, not only do excessive amounts increase overall inflammation while it’s circulating, but one of the storage places it invades is joint tissue.
So not only do you feel hungrier, gain weight, feel fatigued, but you’ll also experience more joint pain and inflammation.
WHAT DOES LEPTIN DO?
Leptin is produced primarily in fat cells by the brain (hypothalamus). It signals satiety. If you’re overweight, normal leptin function will send the signal, “You’ve had enough.” As long as everyone listens (cellularly) and everything else is balanced, you should come into weight balance with normal effort.
BUT…what happens when there’s inflammation, impaired thyroid function, stress, insulin resistance from eating too much flour, sugar and carbohydrates and/or immune dysregulation?
Leptin receptors start to shut down. You start to get hungrier (because the the stomach secretes more ghrelin hormone) – even though you have plenty of stored energy (fat) on your body.
You now have high circulating leptin, but it’s not being used by the cells, so overall leptin is high but you have low leptin UPTAKE at the cellular level – which is where it matters.
Leptin Resistance means that the brain signals that you need more energy (food) and body fat to protect you from starvation (but you don’t!). It’s a total lose-lose scenario unless you’re trying to gain fat.
UGH!
And here’s the kicker….especially if you have any kind of joint pain….the high circulating leptin increases inflammation and immune system activation which puts you at increased risk for all kinds of diseases (cancer, heart disease, kidney, Diabetes (II), Chronic Fatigue, autoimmune diseases, etc).
Conventional Doctors will say that if you have hip, knee, shoulder or hand pain that it’s because of excess weight. They’ll advise: “Just lose weight and you’ll improve. It’s the increased pressure of gravity on your joints because you’re overweight.”
That’s only partially true – and only for the lower part of the body, right?
Excess weight doesn’t explain upper body joint pain – unless you’re handstand walking. (LOL – borrowed that quip from a recent seminar I attended by Brandon Brock.)
So if you have mystery joint pain, uncontrollable appetite and/or weight loss resistance, think leptin! (You don’t really need to test as you’ll see below, but you can ask your functional medicine doctor to test for leptin in blood – optimal fasting levels are 4-6 ng/dl.)
HOW DO YOU BALANCE LEPTIN?
Like all things related to hormone balancing and fat loss, always start with diet and lifestyle. The same holds true for leptin:
- Eat a seasonal, anti-inflammatory real food diet. Inflammation is the root cause of Leptin Resistance so be sure to eat plenty of non-starchy veggies, high quality proteins and healthy fats (including fatty fish/fish oil). Cook with nutrient dense herbs and spices too and always drink enough water. Avoid flour, sugar, toxins (alcohol) and processed foods – maybe dairy too. Watch for food reactions (even from healthy foods).
- Eat to YOUR carbohydrate tolerance. For some, this will be Clean Keto, for others, this could also include a few servings (1-4ish per day) of fruit (seasonally), starchy veg, beans and/or maybe some grains. Why do you need to be carb aware? Carbs raise insulin and insulin, leptin and ghrelin all work together.
- Intermittent Fast. Fasting a little bit longer each day – especially avoiding eating at night – and not snacking – does wonders in terms of resetting cellular receptor sites so that leptin, insulin and other cell signaling works better.
- Don’t Overeat. Overeating blunts hormonal signaling, creates stress and inflammation. Find the balance of overall food intake that’s right for your body right now – not what some app or diet guru tells you to eat. It could be more or less food, but it’s likely you’re eating too much if you’re overweight and all things are balanced (and it could be your hungrier because of low leptin and high ghrelin).
- Balance the Nervous system. If you’re chronically stressed, on high alert, hyper-vigilent, go-go going non-stop – even if it’s just over-thinking – you need to SLOW WAY DOWN and balance the parasympathetic (rest and digest) with your too high sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) autonomic nervous system.
- Move in balance. Watch for overtraining, but move everyday to move inflammatory/lymph tissues and increase insulin and leptin sensitivity.
- Sleep Well. Aim for restorative sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene. Too little sleep raises ghrelin (hunger) and makes you more leptin and insulin resistant.
Of course, I’m currently experimenting with some supplements (you can check out my Leptin Protocol in my Wellevate estore), but I don’t have firm recommendations yet. You can’t out-supplement a bad diet and lifestyle anyway, so work on implementing the above first.
If this list of nutrition and lifestyle recommendations sounds familiar…(as in: these are the same things I recommend over and over again) – GOOD! That’s because these approaches are THAT foundational and THAT important! If you’re out of balance health or weight wise, you’re likely out of balance in one or more of these areas too.
Do some fine tuning, reach out for help or questions and let me know how you’re doing!
