Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

Appendix: The Chemistry of the FAT Programs

they became. 6 A rare genetic defect in humans that causes a deficiency in leptin also causes severe obesity, and is effectively treated with leptin. 7 Unfortunately, the enthusiasm for leptin quickly abated because, with the exception of those rare few who did have this leptin genetic defect, administering leptin to obese people had little or no effect. Nearly all obese individuals already have ele- vated leptin levels, simply because the fatter one is, the more leptin their fat cells will produce. The problem with chronically obese people is not that they have too little leptin, but the fact that they have become insensitive to it. Their bodies aren’t lis- tening to leptin, and the relevant cells are not responding to or reacting to leptin as they should. The technical term for this chemical deafness is “leptin resistance.” The net effect of leptin resistance is the same as having little or no leptin. The worse the leptin resistance, the fatter someone will become. The answer is not in more leptin but in getting your body to start listening to leptin again, or becoming more sensitive to leptin. The more sensitive you are to leptin, the thinner you’ll become. Leptin-sensitive people:

• Are less hungry • Feel satiated very quickly • Crave fewer sugary foods • Have faster metabolisms • Have more energy • Retain the ability to burn fat efficiently

So the real key to determining how fat or thin one will be lies in how sensitive or resistant his or her body is to leptin.

Your Body’s Set-Point Many researchers believe that leptin plays a dominant role in managing your body’s “internal set-point.” The internal set-point theory asserts that your body has an ideal weight it wants to be

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