An excerpt on Leptin from 'Primal Body, Primal Mind'
hpsnickers1
Posts: 2,783 Member
The more I read about leptin the more I realize just how important this hormone is.
Leptin essentially controls mammalian metabolism. Most people think that is the job of the thyroid, but leptin actually controls the thyroid, which regulates the rate of metabolism. Leptin oversees all energy stores. Leptin decides whether to make us hungry and store more fat or to burn fat. Leptin orchestrates our inflammatory response and can even control sympathetic versus parasympathetic arousal in the nervous system. If any part of your endocrine system is awry, including the adrenals or sex hormones, you will never have a prayer of truly resolving those issues until you have brought leptin levels under control. This is a key thing to understand: The endocrine system is an exceedingly complex system of interrelationships that ultimately is regulated via an intricate hierarchical system of management. At the top of the management pillar is leptin. Immediately below it is its subservient sidekick, insulin, which serves as somewhat of an antagonist to leptin. Beneath that are your adrenal hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Then come the pituitary hormones, which regulate your thyroid hormones, then your sex hormones, and on down, It’s a chain of command. There is not a single endocrinologist in the world, no matter how brilliant or talented, who could possibly replicate the intricate and delicate balance that is orchestrated by the interrelationships of our own innate endocrine symphony, nor is there a single “bioidentical hormone” that can be prescribed that can truly replace what the body does naturally. Anything you do to micromanage a single hormone in the body affects them all – and often in unpredictable and unanticipated ways. This is not to say the bioidentical hormone replacement is never necessary or useful, but care must be taken not to reach blindly for this option instinctively without first seeking to comprehend the underlying mechanisms and foundational interrelationships involved. Sometimes a depressed hormone level is better treated as a CLUE to an underlying disorder than as a deficiency state requiring supplementation. Too often doctors (even natural doctors) assume that the body is somehow stupid and doesn’t know how to function in its own best interest. Medical science is too often overly literal in its interpretations. Got high cholesterol? That must mean we need to artificially lower it with a drug (rather than look at why it might be elevated to begin with and address that). Got low testosterone? That must mean that your body is too stupid to make what it needs and we should supply it with more (rather than looking at the mechanisms that functionally regulate this hormone and determining the underlying problem). ]“Hormones, like a family, function together – and they dysfunction together!” Janet Long, B.A., D.C.] If you want to improve the functioning of your adrenals, thyroid, or sex hormones, talk to leptin. Just what dysregulates leptin and upsets your entire endocrine applecart? The most potent triggers of hormonal dysregulation are the blood sugar surges that result from chronic carbohydrate consumption…the only thing that can possibly restore healthy leptin functioning is a diet that is very VERY LOW IN SUGAR AND STARCH (which included eliminating grains, breads, pasta, rice, and potatoes as well as sweets) and is SUFFICIENT IN HEALTHY NATURAL FATS.
Leptin essentially controls mammalian metabolism. Most people think that is the job of the thyroid, but leptin actually controls the thyroid, which regulates the rate of metabolism. Leptin oversees all energy stores. Leptin decides whether to make us hungry and store more fat or to burn fat. Leptin orchestrates our inflammatory response and can even control sympathetic versus parasympathetic arousal in the nervous system. If any part of your endocrine system is awry, including the adrenals or sex hormones, you will never have a prayer of truly resolving those issues until you have brought leptin levels under control. This is a key thing to understand: The endocrine system is an exceedingly complex system of interrelationships that ultimately is regulated via an intricate hierarchical system of management. At the top of the management pillar is leptin. Immediately below it is its subservient sidekick, insulin, which serves as somewhat of an antagonist to leptin. Beneath that are your adrenal hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Then come the pituitary hormones, which regulate your thyroid hormones, then your sex hormones, and on down, It’s a chain of command. There is not a single endocrinologist in the world, no matter how brilliant or talented, who could possibly replicate the intricate and delicate balance that is orchestrated by the interrelationships of our own innate endocrine symphony, nor is there a single “bioidentical hormone” that can be prescribed that can truly replace what the body does naturally. Anything you do to micromanage a single hormone in the body affects them all – and often in unpredictable and unanticipated ways. This is not to say the bioidentical hormone replacement is never necessary or useful, but care must be taken not to reach blindly for this option instinctively without first seeking to comprehend the underlying mechanisms and foundational interrelationships involved. Sometimes a depressed hormone level is better treated as a CLUE to an underlying disorder than as a deficiency state requiring supplementation. Too often doctors (even natural doctors) assume that the body is somehow stupid and doesn’t know how to function in its own best interest. Medical science is too often overly literal in its interpretations. Got high cholesterol? That must mean we need to artificially lower it with a drug (rather than look at why it might be elevated to begin with and address that). Got low testosterone? That must mean that your body is too stupid to make what it needs and we should supply it with more (rather than looking at the mechanisms that functionally regulate this hormone and determining the underlying problem). ]“Hormones, like a family, function together – and they dysfunction together!” Janet Long, B.A., D.C.] If you want to improve the functioning of your adrenals, thyroid, or sex hormones, talk to leptin. Just what dysregulates leptin and upsets your entire endocrine applecart? The most potent triggers of hormonal dysregulation are the blood sugar surges that result from chronic carbohydrate consumption…the only thing that can possibly restore healthy leptin functioning is a diet that is very VERY LOW IN SUGAR AND STARCH (which included eliminating grains, breads, pasta, rice, and potatoes as well as sweets) and is SUFFICIENT IN HEALTHY NATURAL FATS.
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Interesting. Do you have some references on this you could post. I would love to read more on this concept...0
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i find this quite interesting since i have thyroid disease. i also have celiacs disease. so basically i have issues with autoimmune diseases. i started paleo in december, and got bloodowork done 2 weeks ago and my thyroid meds did not need to be adjusted! my endocrinologist said my levels were fine. so i am interested to see in 6 months how my thyroid has changed. thanks for the info!0
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I got this from Primal Body, Primal Mind. I haven't gone through her reference yet. But she does have a site. You might find something on there.0
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Ganesha, are you familiar with Jack Kruse and leptin reset? Lot of folks on the boards at MDA talk about it and do his approach to reset.
If you go to his website, on the right side navigation bar, there are a bunch of links under Popular Posts that may be of interest to you:
http://jackkruse.com/0
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