7 replies to this topic

[JackChristopher]

How does a high-fat diet effect leptin levels?

My understanding:
Leptin is stored in fat cells. When gaining weight, or being overweight in general, you have high levels of leptin in the blood but are leptin resistant. That increases hunger. When losing weight, or being lower weight in general, you're levels decrease but you're sensitivity is increased. That reduces hunger.

This right?

Googling "high fat and leptin" turns up some papers. But they seem to contradict the first one. Another problem is that they don't specify the kind of fat in the diet.

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Agrarian diet and diseases of affluence – Do evolutionary novel dietary lectins cause leptin resistance? [1]
Leptin levels reflect body lipid content in mice: Evidence for diet-induced resistance to leptin action [2]
Short-term, high-fat diets lower circulating leptin concentrations in rats [3]
Leptin-Induced Changes in Body Composition in High Fat-Fed Mice [4]
The Effects of a High Fat Diet on Leptin mRNA, Serum Leptin and the Response to Leptin Are Not Altered in a Rat Strain Susceptible to High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity <a href="http://jn.nutrition....t/128/10/1606">[5]
High Fat Diet Makes Mice Leptin Insensitive And Obese [6]
Development of high fat diet-induced obesity and leptin resistance in C57Bl/6J mice [7]
Leptin prevents obesity induced by a high-fat diet after diet-induced weight loss in the marsupial S. crassicaudata. [8]

[yoyo]

How does a high-fat diet effect leptin levels?

My understanding:
Leptin is stored in fat cells. When gaining weight, or being overweight in general, you have high levels of leptin in the blood but are leptin resistant. That increases hunger. When losing weight, or being lower weight in general, you're levels decrease but you're sensitivity is increased. That reduces hunger.

This right?

Googling "high fat and leptin" turns up some papers. But they seem to contradict the first one. Another problem is that they don't specify the kind of fat in the diet.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agrarian diet and diseases of affluence – Do evolutionary novel dietary lectins cause leptin resistance? [1]
Leptin levels reflect body lipid content in mice: Evidence for diet-induced resistance to leptin action [2]
Short-term, high-fat diets lower circulating leptin concentrations in rats [3]
Leptin-Induced Changes in Body Composition in High Fat-Fed Mice [4]
The Effects of a High Fat Diet on Leptin mRNA, Serum Leptin and the Response to Leptin Are Not Altered in a Rat Strain Susceptible to High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity <a href="http://jn.nutrition....t/128/10/1606">[5]
High Fat Diet Makes Mice Leptin Insensitive And Obese [6]
Development of high fat diet-induced obesity and leptin resistance in C57Bl/6J mice [7]
Leptin prevents obesity induced by a high-fat diet after diet-induced weight loss in the marsupial S. crassicaudata. [8]

leptin resistance is probably only relevant if you're fat. and if you're fat, you shouldn't be worrying about hunger. i guess i'm saying don't confuse whats happening in syndrome X people to what goes on in healthy bodies. if you want info on leptin & diets, lyle mcdonald has like gazillions of stuff written on it.

[JackChristopher]

I'm overweight (formerly morbidly obese actually) but dieting. I'm trying a higher fat, low carb, moderate protein diet.

From understanding Lyle McDonald view, my leptin levels will drop but my leptin sensitivity will rise. But overall I want to normalize leptin levels; I don't want them to go too low.

http://www.bodyrecom...t-the-last.html
http://www.bodyrecom...r-hormones.html
http://www.bodyrecom...d-fat-loss.html
Search "leptin" on his site for the whole series.

[Happy Gringo]

It's necessary to add a "cheat meal" at least once a week, with high carbs to reset leptin (google Cheat to Lose diet). Some claim that if you are eating really low carbs the rest of the week, you will have a 24 hour window where high carbs will reset leptin, but the body will still be in fat burning mode, because it takes longer than that to switch back.

I did the low carb thing for 9 months, except for Friday nights when I ate a medium pizza. I lost half my body-fat.
The holidays were a carb-fest for me and I gained some back, but now I'm back on a low-carb/resistance training diet called the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet and I lost 3 lbs. in the first 8 days.

Edited by Happy Gringo, 22 February 2009 - 01:00 AM.

[yoyo]

generally then, your leptin level will be high enough not to be important. if you are getting hungry (and note if you have been overeating your stomach may not be used to smaller meals, or your brain in eating to satiety, not until 'being stuffed') you can do a carb-up, but if you're still fat, you probably won't need to, as long as you are losing weight at a reasonable pace. the lower your bf gets, the more frequent you'll need a refeed.

[JackChristopher]

Thank you yoyo and Happy Gringo.

Here's more detail, don't know if this changes anything:

I've been obese or overweight most of my life. I ate a high carb diet. I'm a 6'4" male. Two years ago, I was between 300-350+ lbs (I hadn't weight myself in a while). That was the beginning of 2007, by September of the same year I was down to 205.

That was through extreme dieting and high aerobic exercise; I ate as few calories as possible, and I'd walk 3 hours a day. Problem was that my bodyfat percentage was too high at the end of that. And I lost a lot of muscle losing weight that fast.

After that, I went lifting and probably did too much aerobic at the same time, stupidly. That ended in September 08'. I was 220, still mostly fat though.

I'm not sure what I weight now, I think I'm less than 245, but I'm sure I'm still too high in fat. I've been eating less and I've been vegan or vegetarian since late December this year. Did a fast this week too, I might keep that up too. Been on the low-carb diet since last week, but have been moderate carb since then. I'm pretty sure I've lost weight and I'm continuing to loose it. One sign is that I have barely no libido. And when it is around, it's usually when I wake up. Not sure if that testosterone or leptin. But I'm used to that with weight loss.

I think my leptin and insulin must be screwed up after all those extremes over the years. I'll probably do the refeeding thing when when BF% starts to gets lower. What is a high carb refeeding? I'm eating 60-80g of carbs per day now?

Edited by JackChristopher, 22 February 2009 - 05:19 PM.

[yoyo]

hm. you've been keeping basically steady weight for a while then? there could well be some residual damage from time overweight that hasn't normalized yet, but libido problems seems unusual especially at your age; it usually happens only at low bf% & severe diet. if that has been occuring for a while and you're eating eucaloric diet it might be something you should have checked with a doctor. you mentioned vegan, off the top of my head vegan diet might benefit from zinc or alcar supplement for libido. how long was your fast? you might want to stick to 1 day fasts at most until you settle into a healthy weight.

significant weight loss is very very rare, congratulations.

[JackChristopher]

hm. you've been keeping basically steady weight for a while then? there could well be some residual damage from time overweight that hasn't normalized yet, but libido problems seems unusual especially at your age; it usually happens only at low bf% & severe diet. if that has been occuring for a while and you're eating eucaloric diet it might be something you should have checked with a doctor. you mentioned vegan, off the top of my head vegan diet might benefit from zinc or alcar supplement for libido. how long was your fast? you might want to stick to 1 day fasts at most until you settle into a healthy weight.

significant weight loss is very very rare, congratulations.

Thanks for going out of your way to helping me with advice.

I'm not worried about libido. It barely existed when I was losing the weight through extreme dieting and exericse in 2007. But it disappeared those last few months of weight loss. From what I've read, it's common when you're undernourished calorically. But it came back after I ate normally.

Loosing weight now, it's barely around. But I'm fine with it. Actually, leptin levels are somehow involved with libido. But I'm not sure of the mechanism.

Veganism makes things harder. But I'm no solid vegan yet. I might do a variations on a vegetarian diet instead. I haven't reasoned on it yet. But I know it's not the closest to physically optimal either. I have to weigh the utility.

I'll stick with one day a week, or no fasts maximum. I have enough discipline to go too under-calorie sometimes. I'll watch out.