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Wanting to lose weight is not everything. This explains why discouraged patients come to our office after trying different types of diets without the expected results. In addition to our willpower, there are two hormones that work as a team in the regulation of body weight: Ghrelin and Leptin.
They have opposite biological functions: leptin, produced mainly by adipose tissue, inhibits the desire to eat, while ghrelin, produced mainly in the stomach, known as the hunger hormone, awakens the sensation of appetite.
Both act in the opposite way, however, Leptin controls this system, since it not only produces satiety, but also accelerates metabolism, stimulating thyroid hormones that generate the heat necessary for fat burning.
Common mistakes that prevent weight loss:
- Overdoing it by consuming โlightโ products.
- Focus only on reducing carbohydrates.
- Eating too quickly and chewing food poorly.
- Skipping meals to lose weight.
- Eating large amounts of โhealthyโ food.
- Making changes that you can't keep for the rest of your life.
Recommendations to activate leptin
- Diet rich in protein (meats, fish, eggs and legumes).
- Avoid processed foods high in saturated fat.
- Fruits and vegetables are advisable.
- Nuts, almonds, seeds and whole grains are also good for their fatty acids and fiber.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Do not skip meals.
- Get enough sleep.
- Do physical exercise, combining aerobic and strength training. 300 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 150 minutes of vigorous intensity are recommended. Take advantage of the afterburn/EPOC effect.?? , which burns calories up to 72 hours after training
- Control stress, thereby avoiding increased cortisol, a hormone that decreases sensitivity to Leptin.
As good news, drugs have arrived on the market, among them Wegovy (Semaglutide) and Mounjaro (Tirzepatida) that help, together with the measures recommended above, in this difficult process of losing weight, always under medical control and prescription. ย
It is essential that governments and the pharmaceutical industry acknowledge obesity as a significant public health crisis, given that it is among the leading causes of premature death, and take concrete steps to ensure these medications are accessible to many more people.
โEat little and have a smaller dinner, because the health of the whole body is forged in the office of the stomachโ
Don Quixote to Sancho Panza, Miguel de Cervantes
