All behaviors have a biochemical basis...
To give you an example let's look at schizophrenia, for a 100 years' schizophrenia was seen as a behavioral disorder. Today we know it's due to a lack of dopamine, and or a defect in glucose transport across the brain.
These are biochemical problems, that ultimately manifest themselves as a behavioral disorder.
So, what are the biochemical underpinnings of obesity?
Quick bit of science...
Leptin is a satiety hormone that signals when you are feeling full. It's released from your fat cells, and sends a signal to your brain that you have enough energy on board to engage in normal metabolic break down processes, so that you can burn energy at a normal rate.
Insulin is another hormone that does the same thing, when it senses that you are full it tells your brain, you've got enough energy, so let's burn some fat... this is how eating raises your metabolism, (and dieting can slow it down).
Problems arise when our insulin levels get too high and our brain doesn't "see" our leptin, and instead of getting the satiety signal, the brain gets the starvation signal.
You see insulin plays a dual role, and blocks leptin signaling by acting on the same neurons in the brain as leptin does, which seems like a cruel twist of nature.
However, there are two times in your life when we must gain weight: puberty and pregnancy... (this is why females gain weight more easily than men)
Which are both necessary for survival of the species. If your leptin worked right all the time, you could never gain weight because you'd be on a sugar high, you'd be burning it off before you ever had a chance to gain weight and the species would die out!
Puberty and pregnancy are insulin resistant states where your insulin goes high very specifically to cause weight gain.
Once the baby's born, our sex hormones go back down, insulin resistance goes away, you lose weight and you can start all over again. So, it makes perfect sense that insulin should block leptin twice in your life.
Today most of us have insulin levels that are way too high, which means insulin is constantly blocking leptin...
For those who think they don't eat much sugar (or any) one baked potato is enough to fill your liver with glycogen for the day. Add cereal, and pasta and you have enough glycogen on board for a week - so if the needle on the scale isn't budging you may want to rethink your diet, at best you will lose a 1lb a week...
Yet, glucose is essential for life!
Every cell on the planet utilizes glucose for energy. It's so important that if you don't eat it, your body makes it, that's how important it is!
We can make glucose from healthy carbohydrates (fruit and low starch vegetables) fat and protein - we don't NEED added sugar for any biochemical purposes in the body...
When we add sugar, we cause biochemical imbalances that affect our weight, behavior and ultimately our ability to make healthy food choices, and exercise.
Food Affects Your Mood
Ever been drunk?... that's a biochemical imbalance that many of us are happy to blame on the alcohol! Ok, that was a bad example since alcohol isn't food - but sugar is no different, it can send you on a high, one minute, and a low the next... to the point where you don't want to exercise, or (in the extreme) want to get out of bed.
So really the question should be: are you in control of your weight, or is sugar running the show?
No doubt you will have heard that you need to cut down on sugar, but very rarely is the science behind the mechanism of weight loss and gain explained which is important so that you can make empowered choices that put YOU back in control.
Education is a huge "missing" when it comes to the weight loss industry. Think about it, if every understood this, there would be no weight loss industry!
If you're not sure of the best way to start then join me on a FREE call where I will give you 3 personal priority action steps that you can start today!
Don't wait until 2019 to make it happen talk to me today!
