So far we've read about the main forms of macro-nutrients, the two kinds of metabolic process your body can run on, and why these are important points to consider for survival. In terms of advice the favorite looking quite seriously toward a fat based diet plan rather than one based upon carbohydrates like grains, flour and sugar.
To this point, we have been concentrating mainly on the effects of carbohydrates on blood insulin in your body. Now, we are going to check out a vital hormone that has just entered the limelight in nutritional science: leptin.
The story behind fat mice
In 1950, scientists were in the process of breeding lab rats for different features. One of the variations was a tremendously hungry mouse that would eat until it was physically unable to. All these mice would eventually become obese, giving them the appropriate nickname of 'obese mice'.
It was 4 decades before the problem of why the obese mice could eat so much was solved. At Rockefeller University in 1994, a researcher known as Jeffrey Friedman was able to segregate a protein which, when injected to the obese mice, would enable them to eat normally and get back to normal weight. This protein was a mix of 167 amino acids called leptin.
The way in which the hormone functions is by controlling the body's hunger. When you experience hunger, you will continue eating until you are 'satisfied', however the quantity of food which will allow you to be satisfied is determined by leptin. The reason obese mice consumed in the way they did was since they were genetically unable to either produce the hormone or perhaps have functioning receptors. Thus, they kept eating to satisfy their hunger. This sounds like an awesome science story but the applications to survival foods are enormous.
Messing up the hormone
In nature, the hormone is the perfect feedback loop to sustaining a normal body weight. It is made by fat cells themselves, therefore theoretically, having more fat cells would make a person feel much less hungry. Fat levels will decrease to normal and nobody would be at a bad weight. But there are actually hundreds of millions of human examples to verify that it isn't the case these days.
The main reason this happens is leptin insensitivity. From having constantly high levels of the hormone, the receptors in the brain can not transmit when leptin levels are low or high. In essence, this is exactly what happened with the obese rats - with no capability to tell when they are satisfied they would eat till they could not. This would be devastating in a survival scenario, either causing unnecessarily high food consumption or being incredibly taxing psychologically from constant hunger.
Fortunately, there is a solution for this. Low carb diet plans have been shown to restore sensitivity through two mechanisms. First, they lower blood triglycerides which makes it easier for leptin to reach the human brain. Secondly, they have the effects of lowering bodyfat which contributes to constantly elevated levels of the hormone. Additionally, various carbohydates like fructose and wheat have shown to interfere directly with receptors.
You lessen carbs, you reduce leptin insensitivity, you lessen hunger.
To this point, we have been concentrating mainly on the effects of carbohydrates on blood insulin in your body. Now, we are going to check out a vital hormone that has just entered the limelight in nutritional science: leptin.
The story behind fat mice
In 1950, scientists were in the process of breeding lab rats for different features. One of the variations was a tremendously hungry mouse that would eat until it was physically unable to. All these mice would eventually become obese, giving them the appropriate nickname of 'obese mice'.
It was 4 decades before the problem of why the obese mice could eat so much was solved. At Rockefeller University in 1994, a researcher known as Jeffrey Friedman was able to segregate a protein which, when injected to the obese mice, would enable them to eat normally and get back to normal weight. This protein was a mix of 167 amino acids called leptin.
The way in which the hormone functions is by controlling the body's hunger. When you experience hunger, you will continue eating until you are 'satisfied', however the quantity of food which will allow you to be satisfied is determined by leptin. The reason obese mice consumed in the way they did was since they were genetically unable to either produce the hormone or perhaps have functioning receptors. Thus, they kept eating to satisfy their hunger. This sounds like an awesome science story but the applications to survival foods are enormous.
Messing up the hormone
In nature, the hormone is the perfect feedback loop to sustaining a normal body weight. It is made by fat cells themselves, therefore theoretically, having more fat cells would make a person feel much less hungry. Fat levels will decrease to normal and nobody would be at a bad weight. But there are actually hundreds of millions of human examples to verify that it isn't the case these days.
The main reason this happens is leptin insensitivity. From having constantly high levels of the hormone, the receptors in the brain can not transmit when leptin levels are low or high. In essence, this is exactly what happened with the obese rats - with no capability to tell when they are satisfied they would eat till they could not. This would be devastating in a survival scenario, either causing unnecessarily high food consumption or being incredibly taxing psychologically from constant hunger.
Fortunately, there is a solution for this. Low carb diet plans have been shown to restore sensitivity through two mechanisms. First, they lower blood triglycerides which makes it easier for leptin to reach the human brain. Secondly, they have the effects of lowering bodyfat which contributes to constantly elevated levels of the hormone. Additionally, various carbohydates like fructose and wheat have shown to interfere directly with receptors.
You lessen carbs, you reduce leptin insensitivity, you lessen hunger.
About the Author:
Thank you for reading! Terrance Franklin writes about nutrition and survival on a variety of sites on the web. For more information on survival foods, be sure to check out survival foods. And for even deeper reading, follow the link at this site
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