Leptin & Ghrelin: The #1 Reason Why People Can’t Lose Weight

Doing your best but the weight isn’t falling off? You are not alone. Many people struggle with weight loss, and the reason for this can be traced back to two hunger hormones: leptin and ghrelin.

Let’s explore how they work and how to put their capabilities to your advantage.

Leptin: The Alarm Against Starving

Fat cells produce leptin. It is responsible for managing the calories in your body—from eating enough food to survive and carefully using up the energy to storing fat as a backup for leaner times. It is the gatekeeper that tunes up your organism and makes sure that you don’t overeat or become malnourished. 

However, leptin was crucial when the food was scarce. Today, when the food is abundant, your body can develop leptin resistance.

It cannot tell if and when you are starving anymore and starts to store fat in your body.

Research shows that obese people struggle to naturally feel satiety because leptin signaling is not working as intended.

If your brain cannot really register the number of calories you take in and use up, it will go to a starvation mode. Your brain signals you to eat more, use up fewer calories and store up more fat than necessary. 

– Says nutritionist Christine Ellis

One of the first symptoms that shows leptin resistance is a high body fat amount around the waist. Currently, there is no bulletproof way to stop your body from resisting leptin. It is believed that it can be controlled by combining healthy eating habits and reducing diet-related inflammation. 

Ghrelin: The Master of Hunger 

Ghrelin is another hormone that primarily regulates appetite, hunger, and fat storage. It is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. 

Ghrelin is directly related to your daily food intake, and it tends to fluctuate during the day: decrease after a meal and increase when you feel hunger. If your stomach is empty, it will signal to your brain that you should eat. 

This hormone is an essential element of your weight loss journey. If your appetite is high and you always feel hungry, you will eat more and gain weight. If the opposite is true, you have a chance of losing it. 

How to tame ghrelin? Researchers suggest that quality sleep, increased protein in your diet, and exercising can improve ghrelin levels.

How to Regulate Hunger Hormones

Managing leptin and ghrelin is not an easy task, but it can be achieved with careful planning. While you already know what kind of strategies might work with each of these hormones, one method can help regulate both.

Following a balanced and personalized meal plan is one of the most effective ways to regulate hunger, ensure satiety, and stop overeating.

– says nutritionist Christine Ellis

What should be included in a meal plan to restore your hormone balance and spur weight loss?

• Healthy meals that cover your nutritional needs and balance out protein, dietary fats, and carbohydrates.
• The personalized program that gradually reduces your daily calorie intake.
• A regular routine that ensures you are eating your meals at regular intervals.
• Guidelines for your daily water intake, exercising, and sleeping schedules.
• Recipes that are easy to follow and delicious to taste.

A Personalized Meal Plan That Guarantees Results

Keto is an extremely effective weight loss diet that carefully calibrates meal plans for rapid and sustainable weight loss. 

Your body typically uses carbohydrates as a source of energy. If you overeat, your hunger hormones get imbalanced. You might develop leptin resistance. Too many carbs do not make you feel satiated for long, making ghrelin signal that you are hungry again. 

A Keto diet ensures that you use dietary fats as the primary source of energy. This helps to manage leptin and ghrelin and bring them back to normal levels.