Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

Appendix: The Chemistry of the FAT Programs

to become extremely efficient at making fat and becoming resistant to burning fat, since insulin activates lipogenic (fat pro- ducing) enzymes and suppresses glucagon and lipolytic (fat uti- lization) enzymes. I call this metabolic profile the “Famine And Temperature” stress response or the FAT stress response. Fight or FAT There is a difference between the “fight or flight” response and the FAT stress response. For obvious reasons, the FAT stress response is diametrically opposed to the fight or flight stress response as far as leptin is concerned. The stress of running away from a predator should cause the body to adapt by wanting to be as lean as possible to minimize the risks associated with future attacks. The activation of the fight or flight response should, in theory, cause the set- point to shift in the opposite direction and, therefore, cause increased leptin sensitivity (as opposed to leptin resistance). The fact that acute stresses, such as exercise, lead to reduced cortisol and triglyceride levels, as well as increased insulin sensitivity, strongly supports this notion. The fight or flight response is the common term for the stress response known as the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal axis (HPA axis). Very possibly, the determining factor as to how the body will adapt to a given stress—as far as leptin is concerned— is whether or not the stress response is initiated in the hypothal- amus by the release of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). In the typical fight or flight response, CRH levels are elevated 32 and this initiates the HPA axis. This type of stress response will not cause chronically elevated cortisol levels since a negative feedback loop exists between cortisol and CRH. Also, CRH has been shown to increase leptin sensitivity, 33 and CRH has been associated with loss of appetite and the anorexic effect of tread- mill running. 34 So the traditional fight or flight response to stress can make the body thinner, as we might expect. However, if the stress response bypasses the hypothalamus and CRH, you lose the negative feedback loop and can have

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