Leptin and Lectins: Part III

Thanks to everyone for the great comments, this has been an interesting discussion.

I received a very kind e-mail response from Dr. Lindeberg, in which he told me that his group didn't measure leptin levels in his paleolithic pig study because it would have required special reagents. He also sent me two very interesting papers, both hot off the presses.

The first paper shows that glycosylation (bound sugars) of the leptin receptor is required for normal leptin binding. One of the molecules they use to probe the function of the leptin receptor is our good friend wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a lectin found in wheat, barley and rye. They used WGA to specifically block leptin binding at the receptor.

This fits in very nicely with the hypothesis that grain lectins cause leptin resistance. If WGA gets into the bloodstream, which it appears to, it has the ability to bind leptin receptors and block leptin binding. It doesn't take much imagination to see how this could cause leptin resistance.

One caveat is that they used a high concentration of WGA in the study; 10 ug/mL was the lowest concentration they used. I can't imagine that concentration is possible in an actual human body. However, the paper doesn't explore the lower limit of WGA's ability to block leptin binding. At the lowest concentration used, it blocked 50% of the leptin from binding. It's possible that much smaller amounts could still have a significant effect.

The second paper Dr. Lindeberg sent me was on the soy isoflavone genistein. Here's the executive summary: it's bad. Unless you are a man who really wants to embrace his feminine side. It gets into all tissues and effectively activates the estrogen receptor in mice. It shrinks the prostate just like administering estrogen. It also passes into pups through the mothers' milk at levels high enough to activate their estrogen receptors. All this from the same amount of genistein you can get by eating a meal of soy.

The bad news doesn't stop there. Fermentation doesn't break it down. Miso, tempeh and natto actually have more genistein than non-fermented soy. Sigh...

Strength Training

What is Strength Training?
Strength training is defined as exercise that requires your muscles to exert a force against some form of resistance, such as free weights.

Aerobic exercise and strength training are equally important for successful weight loss.If you are not doing strength training then you're missing a key component in your weight loss plan.
Strength training increases metabolism by increasing lean muscle mass which helps in long term weight loss. Muscles burn calories and gives you more leaner look. It increases bone density.

Strength training can be accomplished by using dumbbells, weight machines, push ups or squats etc.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic means with air or oxygen . Aerobic exercise refers to exercise that involves or improves oxygen consumption by the body.Aerobic activity can get your heart to pump blood more quickly and with more force than normal. As blood is pumped faster, it must be oxygenated more quickly, which quickens respiration.Thats why when we do aerobic exercise, we breathe faster than normal .
Aerobic exercise burns a lot of calories, so it directly contributes to weight loss.

Examples of aerobic exercise	walking, jogging, swimming, brisk walking, running, ice skating, biking, aerobics, rowing, basketball, jumping rope, roller skating, dancing.
Examples of stationary exercise machines for doing aerobic exercise	elliptical machine, stationary bike, treadmills, stair-steppers and rowing machines

Tips to stop food cravings

Drink more water:
Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body to metabolize stored fat.

Eat smaller, more frequent meals:
Instead of eating three large meals a day, try eating smaller, more frequent meals. Then there will be less time between your meals and less chance you'll experience intense cravings.Eating small frequent meals keeps your metabolism charged and blood sugar levels balanced. If your blood sugar level goes down you’ll experience cravings.

Include more fiber in your meals:
Fiber is digested slower, keeps us feeling fuller longer . It releases its energy slower which keeps our blood sugar levels even and helps us avoid cravings. Fiber is found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Replace white rice, bread, and pasta with brown rice ,brown bread and whole-grain products.

Adequate sleep :
Sleep loss may equal weight gain. If you want to lose weight, you need to get enough sleep as inadequate sleep triggers food cravings. So get your full eight hours each night.

Eat slowly :
It takes around 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that it is full . Chewing your food longer will help prevent you from over eating.
Fast Weight Loss

Salma Hayek Loses the Baby Weight

Salma Hayek was on Oprah yesterday. She became pregnant for the first time at age 40, and says she gained a lot of weight. The baby was born just after her 41st birthday six months ago and she has lost all the excess weight. Below is a video clip from the Oprah show. She looks very slim and talks about how she doesn't think it's true that breastfeeding helps you lose the weight faster. It sounds like it was a lot of dedicated exercise and careful eating that did it for her. See also some comments on the Celebrity Baby Blog, where many women disagree with her about breastfeeding not being an aid in quicker weight loss post-pregnancy.

Oh boy... not even a quarter

Before and after today's lunch. Now, it looks to me that there is more in the second plate, but I can assure you I honestly did eat at least a few bites of pasta! :o) 1 meatball and some pasta. Wow.

To give you an idea of the size of this portion... it was 50g of dry pasta and 1/4 can on meatballs in tomato sauce. So to only be able to eat 16th of a can of ANYTHING is pretty weird.

I stopped eating a little while ago, and it still feels like a lump in my chest. I have the hiccups now too, which is a good sign that I am either going to puke, or its going to go down...

Last night I tried to eat a salad. I made salad with prawns in marie rose sauce. I couldn't eat much of it at all. I have also found that beetroot is not that easy to chew to a pulp and I think this was the reason I spewed it up. Its a strange kind of puke. Different even to before my last fill...

Its sort of like the excess food just sits in my pouch and when I touch the back of my throat it just pops out... not even like a puke at all. So obviously things are getting tight in there.

anyway, shall update later, but this is all I have had so far today. Couldn't face breakfast. Uh oh... excess saliva being produced... better run!

The Bariceutical Prescription

Nutritionally deprived, wrinkled, drained and tired is not what Silvia Demeter envisioned when she underwent gastric banding surgery in 2003. But that is how she found herself feeling after losing weight."I felt like I was starving. My skin was wrinkled, my hair was falling out. I felt drained and tired. Even grocery shopping or caring for my family was a chore. By 5PM each day I was a couch