BODY FAT AND DIET

 

The reason you have difficulty losing body fat is that you need to understand how your body works. The more sugar there is in the blood, the higher the insulin levels and the greater production of fat. When insulin levels are low, triglycerides residing inside fat cells get broken down into fatty acids for energy, and the fat cells shrink in size; this is a decrease in body fat. Wheat products are able to raise serum glucose levels quickly, and subsequently raise insulin levels. The half-life of insulin is hours, and may continue to rise with additional wheat-derived foods such as bread, baked goods, pasta and snacks.

Hormones control the speed at which these metabolic processes occur in the hypothalamic portion of the brain, the pituitary gland and the thyroid gland. Leptin, produced by fat cells, completes the picture, and when released into the bloodstream, tells the brain that you have enough energy stored as fat and thus reduces appetite. Low leptin levels tell the brain that food intake is low, and the brain slows down the body’s rate of energy consumption (metabolic rate). The body tries to maintain a steady state (homeostasis), and when fat is high, lepton is high; the metabolic rate thus increases to compensate for the increased energy that is available. When fat is low, leptin decreases and again attempts to keep the body constant by decreasing the metabolic rate. Serum leptin levels correlate with body fat levels, and can be used as a measure of your body fat.

New data reveals that there are dietary leptin blockers that prevent fat loss. High insulin levels can block leptin function and cause both a low metabolic rate and simultaneous fat storage. This is how most people become obese. Thus, high insulin levels make us fat. Another finding is that digested wheat gluten blocks the binding of leptin to its receptor, thus blocking the action of leptin [Jonsson Tommy, et al. 2015. BMC Biochemistry 16(3)]. Most people are not gluten-sensitive and do not have excessive diarrhea when ingesting gluten or wheat products. The real negative impact of gluten is the effect on leptin and the resulting increase in body fat.

Thus, the way to loose body fat is to avoid gluten/wheat products in your diet, along with any other foods that raise insulin levels quickly.