Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

Appendix: The Chemistry of the FAT Programs

T his appendix is primarily for those readers who have a scien- tific background or who have a scientific orientation. It pre- sumes some prior knowledge of biochemistry. “FAT Programs” is a term that I use for a metabolic profile that can cause a shift in the body’s internal “set-point,” signaling to the body that it needs to be fatter for reasons of self-preservation and survival. Leptin and the Internal Set-Point Leptin is a hormone produced by our fat cells. Among other things, it communicates to the brain how much fat our bodies are carrying. Since its discovery in 1994, the role of leptin has radically altered the field of metabolic physiology. Leptin is widely con- sidered to be the master hormone that regulates body weight. It causes feelings of satiety, 1 reduces sugar cravings, 2 signals the thyroid to speed up the metabolism, 3 and signals to the liver to start burning fat. 4 The net effect is that when leptin levels rise, we eat less, we burn more calories, and we burn fat very easily. It is for this rea- son that, when leptin was discovered back in 1994, it was thought to have the potential to solve the obesity epidemic. Rats were genetically altered so that they were incapable of producing leptin. These rats remained insatiably hungry and eventually grew to be three times their normal weight. 5 Adminis- tering leptin to these rats caused them to lose weight in a dose- dependent fashion: the more leptin they were given, the thinner

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