Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

In Friday’s issue of Total Health Breakthroughs, I talked about two types of hunger…

Physical hunger is the feeling you get at the end of a long day. It is how you feel after a vigorous workout. Your stomach growls. You become tired and weak and your thinking slows down. This is your body telling you that it needs nutrients and energy.

Hormonal hunger, on the other hand, has little to do with mealtime. In fact, it can often strike shortly after a big meal. Hormonal hunger can cause strong cravings and a near continual desire to eat.

This type of hunger is the result of various hormones and neurotransmitters rising and falling in response to the foods we eat. These hormones not only influence your hunger mechanism, they also play an important role in how your body stores and burns fat.

One of the most important “hunger hormones” is leptin…

A team of researchers at the Rockefeller University discovered leptin in 1994. They were studying a genetic line of mice that continually consumed food until they became morbidly obese. These mice just did not “know when to say when.” Their fat-burning metabolism was also dysfunctional. Once the fat was on their bodies, it was there to stay.

The scientists discovered that these mice were missing a particular hormone. When the researchers injected this hormone into the animals, it curbed their appetite, stimulated their fat-burning metabolism and restored them to a normal body weight.

They called the hormone leptin, derived from the Greek word for “thin.”

Further research has proven that leptin is a very powerful messenger hormone. It helps perform countless functions in the body. Two of these are very important when it comes to hunger and body fat:

1. Leptin sends a signal to your brain that you are full. This shuts down your hunger mechanism.
2. It also signals the fat inside your cells to break down into a usable form for energy.

When these signals are working, you stay feeling full for longer and the fat that is stored on your body is burned for fuel. This is a powerful combination for helping you to stay slim.

However, for many of us, leptin does not work as it should. It is blocked.

Are you resistant to leptin?

Leptin functions as a negative feedback loop. The hormone is produced by your fat cells. The more fat cells you have, the higher your levels of leptin. This helps to suppress your appetite and it stimulates your metabolism to burn fat. The result should be a return to a healthy weight.

However, when too many fat cells build up, a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP) sticks to the leptin. This blocks leptin’s ability to send your brain the “I’m full” signal. It also stifles your ability to burn fat.

This condition is called leptin resistance, and it is highly correlated with obesity (not to mention heart disease and diabetes). Leptin resistance can make losing weight nearly impossible – you are always hungry and your body is programmed to hold fat and not let go.

There are a number of things you can do to improve leptin “sensitivity.”  Here are four that are very important:

1. Avoid large, gluttonous meals
2. Reduce your consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates
3. Never go to bed on a full stomach
4. Eat protein with breakfast

There is also an herbal supplement that can help…

Several years ago, Dr. Julius Oben was performing population studies on West African tribal cultures. He noted that one particular region had very low incidences of obesity and diabetes. Then he discovered that the populations in this region use a paste derived from the seed of a bush mango to thicken their soups. They use this substance an average of ten times per week.

The plant is irvingia gabonensis, and Dr. Oben’s discovery led to the development of a powerful extract. What Oben and a team of researchers later discovered is that this substance has an extraordinarily powerful effect on leptin sensitivity.

In a 10-week controlled clinical trial, published in the medical journal Lipids in Health and Disease, the researchers tested the effects of this substance on 120 men and women. Some were normal weight. Some were obese.

They split the groups in two. One group took 150 mg of the irvingia extract twice a day on an empty stomach – a half hour before lunch and a half hour before dinner. The other group received a placebo. The two groups made no other lifestyle or dietary changes.

By the end of the ten weeks, the placebo group lost a mere three pounds. The irvingia group lost an average of 28 lbs and six inches off their waist!

And that’s not all…

The group who took the extract also dramatically improved several markers for health, including a substantial 49% drop in leptin (indicating that their leptin sensitivity increased). They also saw a 52% decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP) – the protein which binds to leptin and disrupts its capacity to turn off the hunger switch.

For good measure, the Irvingia group also experienced and average 22% decrease in blood sugar and a 26% drop in total cholesterol.

Scientists still do not know exactly how the extract produces its effect on leptin and other health markers, but the results speak for themselves. And several other studies have confirmed it. Along with a low glycemic diet, the herbal supplement – irvingia gabonensis – can go a long way toward curbing your appetite and helping you achieve your optimal weight.

To Your Health

Jon Herring
Editorial Director
Total Health Breakthroughs