Leptin and Lectins

I've been puzzled by an interesting question lately. Why is it that certain cultures are able to eat large amounts of carbohydrate and remain healthy, while others suffer from overweight and disease? How do the pre-industrial Kuna and Kitavans maintain their insulin sensitivity while their bodies are being bombarded by an amount of carbohydrate that makes the average American look like a bowling ball?

I read a very interesting post on the Modern Forager yesterday that sent me on a nerd safari through the scientific literature. The paper that inspired the Modern Forager post is a review by Dr. Staffan Lindeberg. In it, he attempts to draw a link between compounds called lectins, found in grains (among other things), and resistance to the hormone leptin. Let's take a step back and go over some background.

One of the most-studied animal models of obesity is called the "Zucker" rat. This rat has a missense mutation in its leptin receptor gene, causing it to be nonfunctional. Leptin is a hormone that signals satiety, or fullness. It's secreted by fat tissue. The more fat tissue an animal has, the more leptin it secretes. Normally, this creates negative feedback that causes it to eat less when fat begins to accumulate, keeping its weight within a narrow range.

Zucker rats secrete leptin just fine, but they lack leptin receptors in their brain. Their blood leptin is high but their brain isn't listening. Thus, the signal to stop eating never gets through and they eat themselves to morbid obesity. Cardiovascular disease and diabetes follow shortly thereafter, unless you remove their visceral fat surgically.

The reason Zucker rats are so interesting is they faithfully reproduce so many features of the disease of civilization in humans. They become obese, hypometabolic, develop insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Basically, severe metabolic syndrome. So here's a rat that shows that leptin resistance can cause something that looks a whole heck of a lot like the disease of civilization in humans.

For this model to be relevant to us, we'd expect that humans with metabolic syndrome should be leptin-resistant. Well what do you know, administering leptin to obese people doesn't cause satiety like it does in thin people. Furthermore, elevated leptin predicts the onset of obesity and metabolic syndrome. It also predicts insulin resistance. Yes, you read that right, leptin resistance comes before insulin resistance.

Interestingly enough, the carbohydrate-loving Kitavans don't get elevated leptin like europeans do, and they don't become overweight, develop insulin dysfunction or the metabolic syndrome either. This all suggests that leptin may be the keystone in the whole disease process, but what accounts for the differences in leptin levels between populations?

I'll talk about a possible explanation in my next post.

Back home

I'm back at home, and my Dad is back at his home. He came out of hospital on Friday afternoon. He's looking good, if a little down at heart. His poor tummy looks like one of those teddy bear pyjama cases with a zip down the middle that I used to have as a kid. Over 60 staples from breast to pubis. *Shudders*

But apart from the operation, everything is settling down. He just has to keep resting, which will be the major problem.

Onto brighter things... I had a fill today! By today I KNEW that I needed one categorically. I know I was umm-ing and ahh-ing whether to do it a couple of weeks back, but this week I have DEFINITELY been able to eat more... MUCH more. I still have problems and weird days when I have been unable to eat more than soup, but for the most part I can get down about half as much again as I used to. Not that I am trying to eat more, its just that I don't feel the need to stop, or an overwhelming sensation of fullness. I have also stayed the same weight for at least 3 weeks, and on top of that, I have found I am wanting sugary snacks like chocolate and wine because, and only because, I am hungry. I did NOT feel hungry between meals after my last fill and I simply didn't look for or want high cal snacks. So I went for it today, and like last time, it was the right decision. I saw Wendy from the weightloss surgery group again - she is AWESOME!!! Honestly what a breath of fresh air it is to have someone who actually REMEMBERS your face and your situation and isn't just cribbing up before you walk through the door... I mean, I hadn't seen her for weeks and she noticed I had my hair cut and coloured! My husband doesn't even notice that!!! HA HA.

So she gave me 0.5ml and I am at 6.5ml exactly in my band. It is so good to have the band aspirated to check for leaks or problems or similar each time. I can actually SEE the syringe and the amount of volume in the band as it comes out and its so satisfying to know that of the three times she has seen me, 3 times she located the port first time, and it was easy, no fuss and no bother, just what it should be - proper care and attention. I feel at home there too.

I weighed in today on their scales at midday after drinking untold water and coffee etc (but no food as was advised) and I weighed 16 stone 4 in my clothes. HOW COOL IS THAT! So according to their records I have lost exactly 1 stone since my last fill. That's pretty damn FABULOUS!

Today, and I must admit I can't do the liquids thing (and yes, I am SUPER careful!), I have had:
2 litres water
4 coffee's
8 french fries
1 bite of McDonalds chicken select strip
1 bag of chicken and lentil casserole from the freezer (1x1 inch lump of chicken, 1 potato, half a carrot and some lentils and onions in the sauce - nice a sloppy)
2 co-codamol

And do I notice a difference? HELL YEAH! Bring on the 15's

Disclaimer

This is my personal weight loss blog. I am not a qualified doctor or a physician. I am writing about my own experience as a weight loser. If you have some confusion or issue about your weight problem or health or any other health issue - you must contact a qualified doctor or physician. This should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor.

What is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Basal Metabolic Rate is a measure of the energy that your body uses when it is inactive. It represents the minimum amount of energy required to keep your body functioning like heart beating, lungs breathing, brain working and body temperature normal.

BMR accounts for 60-75% of daily calories burned. This means you burn the most calories while at rest. The faster your metabolic rate the more calories you burn.

People with a high percentage of muscle mass burn more calories while at rest. This means it is important to not only lose fat but to gain muscle in the weight loss process. By increasing your total muscle mass, you can increase your bodies total energy requirements even while at rest and increase your metabolic rate .

What Is Metabolism?

Hydration: Attempt Only Under Medical Supervision

I've noticed how the word "hydration" has crept into the popular lexicon in the last decade or so. Before that, we were so primitive, we just "drank water". Now you need a PhD just to put a glass to your lips. I'm not sure I'm qualified!

I've been hearing so many people, including health professionals, tell me to drink 8 glasses of water a day for my entire life. In my middle school health class, I was told by my hydrophilic teacher that I should be urinating every hour and my urine should always be clear. For my whole life, I've thought it was nonsense. Yet the message has reached people. Walk around any college campus and you'll see undergrads faithfully carrying around their endocrine-disrupting plastic-water everywhere they go.

You see, our bodies have this very sophisticated mechanism to ensure water homeostasis. It's called thirst. If we need so much water to be healthy, why aren't we thirsty more often?

I skimmed through a paper today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology that reviews the evidence for health benefits from drinking more water than your thirst demands. Their conclusion: there's no evidence to suggest it helps anything. Water is just a nice harmless placebo.

The term "hydration" has helped fuel a whole industry to satisfy our need for hydration technology. Gatorade claims it hydrates better than water. It must be the high-fructose corn syrup and yellow #5... And make sure to bring your "hydration pack" when you go on your 20 minute jog; you might get lost and end up in the Kalahari desert!

I actually think the water craze isn't totally harmless. Drinking large amounts of water with a meal interferes with digestion by diluting digestive enzymes and stomach acid. Drinking a tall beer does the same. Wine is better because it tends to be a smaller volume.

As far as I'm concerned, with minor exceptions, the only thing to drink is water. I'll have an occasional glass of wine, beer or whole raw milk, but 99% of what I drink is good old-fashioned dihydrogen oxide.

The only time I drink a large amount of water without being thirsty is if I'm about to do vigorous exercise or spend time outside in hot weather.

Thanks to Snap for the CC photo.

Pounds to Kilos, Kilos To Pounds Converter

Kilogram < > Pound Conversion
Enter a number in either field, then click outside the text box
Kilograms :
Pounds :

A Shift in Tastes

I noticed it for the first time a few weeks ago. One of my labs was having a cake and ice cream party for someone's birthday and it didn't tempt me in the slightest. Today, I looked at a box of candy on the table at work and it seemed distinctly unappetizing. My taste for sugar has all but disappeared.

When I was a child, I couldn't get enough sugar. My parents would buy reduced sugar cereal and I would add a heaping tablespoon of sugar to each bowl. My favorite part was the sweet slurry at the bottom after the cereal was gone.

By the time I went to college, I knew sugar was unhealthy. It took massive amounts of willpower to keep myself from gorging on donuts and ice cream. Often, my willpower wasn't enough. Since then, I've been gradually refining my diet and the cravings have become more manageable. Sugar binges became rare.

In the past six months, I've made some new lifestyle changes based on my current understanding of nutrition and health. I've reduced my carbohydrate intake, drastically reduced my grain intake, and increased my fat intake. Most of my carb intake comes from vegetables now, with small portions of legumes from time to time as well. I've also added interval training and weight lifting to my exercise routine, which was formerly a 30 minute bike commute every day.

After an adjustment period of 3-4 months, my tastes have changed. I don't crave sugar or starchy foods anymore, and I can't get enough fat. I could eat practically nothing but fatty meat, but I don't for environmental and financial reasons. I do eat a lot of eggs, and an amount of lard, butter, olive oil and coconut oil that would make Dean Ornish weep. I see it as a very good sign that my body has made the shift from a carbohydrate-burning metabolism to a fat-burning one. Since carbohydrate and sugar cravings are related to insulin levels in my opinion, my insulin has probably dropped.

I'm going to get my bloodwork done sometime soon; I'll post it on the blog so you can all see how my self-experimentation is working. Then we can decide whether I'm onto something or full of hot air. I'd like to know my total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, fasting insulin, HbA1c and perhaps glucose tolerance.

Thanks to Andrew Huff for the CC photo.