Have you ever heard of leptin? Leptin is a hormone that is produced by your body that helps to regulate fat storage. When you lose weight and in turn, lose body fat, your leptin levels also fall, leading to low levels of the hormone all around. Obviously, losing weight and fat is a good thing, but having low leptin levels isn’t. It’s a tricky thing to navigate because on one hand you are doing a good thing by burning fat, and on the other hand you are lowering your leptin levels which isn’t ideal. When you have low leptin levels, your body is more prone to experiencing hunger pangs and cravings, which can be counter productive to any weight loss goals. Here are some ways to increase your leptin levels!
Recent research has found that people who enjoy less regular sleep are plagued with lower leptin levels, so one way to help keep them higher in your body is to maintain a regular sleeping pattern that provides you with anywhere from 7 to 8 hours of sleep. An extra or two hours over the weekend never hurt anyone either!
Try to increase your daily fibre intake by eating things like whole grains, oatmeal, celery, and legumes. Fibre gives the body a feeling of fullness that sends signals to the brain to release more leptin.
Try to avoid eating anything after you have had your dinner in the evening. Committing to not eating late at night, even if you are feeling munchy, can really help to increase the levels of leptin in your body.
Increase your intake of omega 3 fatty acids through foods like salmon, eggs, and milk. Omega 3 helps to increase your body’s leptin levels by fighting against the inflammation causing molecules (the main reason that leptin resistance can develop).
Studies have shown that people who have leptin deficiencies also have zinc deficiencies, so you want to work on boosting both as much as possible by adding things to your regular diet like nuts, cocoa, beef, pumpkin, and seafood. These are all great sources of zinc that should hopefully do the double job of increasing your leptin levels too. Not mention, they are all healthy foods that can contribute to your weight loss at the same time!