Leptin! Have you heard of it?

I just recently got done reading the book:

"The Leptin Diet" by: Byron J. Richards

This book is about "When" to eat, more then "What to eat.

"It states that Leptin is the king of hormones, the most powerful hormone in the human body. And that when people get on the "bad side" of Leptin there are problems abound: fatigue, depression, irritability, inability to focus, poor metabolism, faulty immune function, problems extracting energy from food, high cholesterol, high blood pressur, diabetes, obesity, anorexia, reproductive-function problems etc...."The jist of the book is:

• Rule #1: Never eat after Dinner. Allow eleven to twelve hours between dinner and breakfast. Never go to bed on a full stomach. Finish eating at least three hours before be. It is called break-fast for a reason (to break the fast you had while sleeping, regerating)
• Rule #2: Eat three meals a day. Allow five to six hours between meals. Do not snack.
• Rule #3: Do not eat large meals. If you are overweight, always try to finisha meal when you are slightly less than full: the full signal will usually catch up to you in ten to twenty minutes. Eating slowly is important.
• Rule #4: Eat a breakfast containing protein.
• Rule $ 5: Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat.

It goes on a tangent against fast food and farmers that don't grow organic foods, but is otherwise very interesting. It does state that we should only be drinking water, pure water not this artificially flavored stuff ( the sweet tasting stuff), that your body does not know that it is not sugar...it tastes sweet and according to the hormone it releases insulin and leptin in response.

check it out if your interested:

WWW.TruthInWellness.com

5-6 hours between meals! Sounds impossible!

I have actually tried it and it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  It really gives you time to ACTUALLY be hungry  ;)

I agree with the artifical sugar thing. Can cause cravings, the body doesn't know how to process it. I went back to reg sugar and feel so much better .

i usually eat every 5-6 hours myslef with the exception in the am. i will have an apple about 11am. i eat breakfast at 6am and lunch at 1pm. some days is easy. some days hard...i feel i been eating too much carbs from bread, mind you it is whole wheat but i feel i eat too much. i usually have some type of pita/wrap/bread at breakfst, lunch, and dinner along w/other foods. is this too much. i am worriked..?

I call Fad Diet.

Fad Diet of psuedo-science (I DO know what Leptin is. It IS a Hormone. it is NOT Kind of Hormones and it is not responsible for all that.)

I suggest no one do this, unless you WANT to follow a "Diet" with rules that don't make any sense to you because some quote unquote expert tells you it'll help you lose weight.

Well said HK, I haven't done well by this list of rules at all and yet I've done well.

Oh and I agree with HK, I was just wondering if anyone had heard of it and thought it was something that was even interesting.

But I agree fad Diet, although this author does not tell you what to eat, agrees with a lower calorie diet, it's more about WHEN to eat, which in most peoples cases would not be an acceptable thing to do for any human.   My opinion only.

I love this diet. It's not really much of a diet though, just a sensible way to eat. I don't think the idea of 3 square meals a day is that revolutionary. I mean, didn't most people do that for most of the 20th century before we had the obesity epidemic? All in all the rules are pretty basic. Not eating before bed and reducing (not eliminationg) starchy carbs alone will help anyone lose weight. Granted the weight loss is slower, but it's also more lasting, at least for me.

I have not read the book only what was posted in the OP but I don't think there is anything enormously wrong with what was posted above with the exception of the snacking perhaps (which always helps me make better dinner choices). Eat less (check), drink pure water (check), reduce carbs (check), don't eat at night (check), eat high protein breakfast (check): What's wrong with all of that, sounds like good advice to me. So, why are y'all calling fad diet? Leptin is in fact an enormously powerful hormone which does play a role in much of what was quoted above. What's the issue here?

I like rule #4. The rest doesn't make sense.

So your only suppose to eat three small meals a day? I'd starve.

I don't think it's three small meals, I think it's three reasonable sized meals compared to what most Americans eat. Basically it is saying don't overstuff yourself and eat slowly so that when you are full you know when to stop eating. Most of us inhale our food (at least I do) so that stuff feeling only comes after I have consumed enough for 3 grown men.

I think reducing carbs makes an enormous amount of sense and if everyone did it perhaps obesity and diabetes wouldn't be such a prevalent problem. I know if I reduced carbs I would lose weight immediately, being such a carb addict.

Does the author address what diabetics or pre-diabetics and people with metabolic syndrome should do, since going so long would promote spikes and drastic drops in blood sugar and mess up insulin levels?  Just wonering.

I would not call the leptin diet a fad.  It is a sound eating practice that focuses on allowing the body to appropriately cycle between insulin/storage mode and leptin/burn mode.  Byron Richards includes detailed peer reviewed studies as references to his claims.  If your concern is pre-diabetic, I would recommend the Insulin Resistance Diet by Dr. Cheryl Hart.  Both use a similar approach to identifying the role of insulin and leptin in weight management. 

Great diet plan!!!  It isn't just about the weight loss.  I feel better when I eat this way.  I have more energy and avoid the afternoon blahs.  As far as information goes, I was a biology major in college and I love the scientific information the the author provides in Mastering Leptin.  His web site also provides some amazing information for weight loss and general understanding of Leptin as well as a bunch of other health topics.

I just saw an article he posted on Leptin and type II diabetes which is extremely informative and explains the connection.  It is definitely worth reading if you like scientific information explained in a clear way.

 

 

3-5 make sense. Not sure about #1 and #2.

Honestly, I think rules are just a matter of finding the ones that work with your metabolism. Since people are usually overweight or overfat for different reasons, the remedy will differ a little bit too. The wrong number of calories (usually too many, can be far too few, damaging metabolism) is a near-universal starting point but it's a little more complicated than that, else simple dieting would almost always work.