In the first study 9 weeks of chlorella supplementation lowered leptin levels in rats on a normal diet and in those on a high fat diet.  Chlorella prevented the insulin resistance that otherwise occurs from a high fat diet.  Furthermore, chlorella improved the functionality of glutamate transporters, which clear excess glutamate from nerves and thereby prevent excitotoxic damage to nerves.  This is a novel finding since obesity is clearly linked to cognitive decline.

The second study showed that chlorella inhibited the growth of baby fat cells.  This is important because these baby fat cells readily mature and become active fat-storing cells when a person eats too much.  Chlorella also inhibited existing mature fat cells from storing new fat.  Furthermore, higher doses of chlorella helped to knock out the excess fat cell population.

Chlorella is a green superfood that promotes many aspects of health including detoxification, nerve health, and immunity.  These studies shown it has the potential to be excellent support for weight management efforts.

“The results are not surprising; obesity is a state of inflammation and is not a good environment for conception or fetal development,” said Barbara Luke, lead researcher.  “The key message is to lose weight, prior to conception, and focus on pre-conception health issues.”

Obese women were up to 35% less likely to become pregnant even with fertility assistance.  *Of the obese women who were able to become pregnant, the odds of stillbirth were increased more than twofold,” Luke said.  “Among live births, the odds of premature birth significantly paralleled increasing obesity: from 16 percent for overweight women to 34 percent for women at Class 3 [the most obese studies].”

Proper leptin function is required for optimal body weight.  Additionally, leptin is the key hormone that enables the placenta to grow and successful pregnancy to occur.  Entering pregnancy in a state of leptin resistance is problematic for a variety of reasons.  All women of childbearing age should be following the Leptin Diet.

This study was carried out in overweight humans considered healthy.  Primary substances that activate nerves were lacking as were choline-containing compounds (needed for nerve cell membranes and memory).  In general, the ability of the frontal lobes to metabolize glucose (fuel) was diminished.

These findings suggest that even in healthy overweight people there are clear biochemical signs of reduced human ability – not to mention trouble managing cravings.

Yet another reason to lose the weight and keep it off.

“What we found was that those who continued exercising, despite modest weight regains, regained zero percent visceral fat a year after they lost the weight,” said lead researcher Gary Hunter.  “But those who stopped exercising, and those who weren’t put on any exercise regimen at all, averaged about a 33 percent increase in visceral fat.  Because other studies have reported that much longer training durations of 60 minutes a day are necessary to prevent weight regain, it’s not too surprising that weight regain was not totally prevented in this study.  It’s encouraging, however, that this relatively small amount of exercise was sufficient to prevent visceral fat gain.”

It is of course quite nice if an individual can exercise enough to keep their body weight stable at a lower weight.  However, this study shows that even some exercise can be highly protective.

The research comes from a ten year Danish study of 27 178 men and 29 876 women, ages 50 to 64.  The researchers found that hip circumference in women was directly associated with an increased risk for life-threatening blood clots in veins.  While this is only one type of heart-related disease, it does show that extra weight on the hips is not benign.

Extra fat invariably leads to extra estrogen production.  Higher-than-normal estrogen promotes dangerous blood clotting.  The findings of this study are thus not surprising. 

Excess weight no matter where it is located is not healthy.

The researchers found that too much leptin was associated with poor survival odds in female thyroid cancer patients.  The same research group has demonstrated in many cell studies that excess leptin acts on thyroid cancer cells by stimulating growth and preventing death.

Leptin is vital to your survival.  You need the right amount at the right time for your body to work correctly.  Numerous studies link leptin problems and obesity to cancer, especially breast and prostate.  It looks like we can now add thyroid cancer to this list.
It is highly recommended that everyone follow The Leptin Diet so as to minimize the risk for the early onset of any of the typical diseases of aging.

In addition to your weight, one of the easiest ways of doing this is to measure your waistline and compare it to your height.  Optimal is a flat stomach.  Maximum Weight Limit is a waistline measurement that is ½ your height.  This measurement applies to all age groups including children.  Once you go over that it has been proven that the likelihood you are forming plaque along your arteries is quite high.

A simple way to calculate your goal weight is to use 5 ft tall as the 100 pound baseline.  For each inch you are over 5 ft add 5, 6, or 7 pounds depending on your frame “thickness.”  A slender bone frame is 5 pounds, a medium frame is 6 pounds, and a larger bone/heavier frame is 7 pounds.  For example, the goal weight for a woman who is 5’ 4” and has a medium frame is 124 pounds (6 x 4 = 24, plus 100).  The goal weight for a man who is 6’3” and has a large frame is 205 pounds (7 x 15 = 105, plus 100).

The newly proposed guidelines for Maximum Weight Limit are figured as follows:

Women:  Use a baseline height of 5 ft.  The maximum weight for this height is 125 pounds.  For each inch taller you are you add 5 pounds (or subtract 5 pounds for each inch if you are shorter than 5 ft).

Men:  Use a baseline height of 5’9”.  The maximum weight for this height is 175.  For each inch taller you are you add 5 pounds.

Always remember that these are guidelines.  Individuals with more muscle can weigh more and be healthier, so there could be an extra 5-10 pounds of muscle for a generally fit individual who exercises regularly and more than that in an athlete. 

The value in having simple ways of calculating a goal weight and maximum weight is that it helps you to know a realistic objective as well as the point you are crossing the line into significant disease risk.

The information is interesting because not everyone who is overweight develops Type II Diabetes and some people who are normal weight develop it.

Fat cells that are too large are reflective of white adipose tissue that is out of shape.  You can create this situation by eating meals that are very large or by generally overeating.  How much tolerance you personally have before your fat cells get too large will vary from person to person, but you are clearly stressing this system when you eat too much.

Other science demonstrates that when your white adipose tissue goes into a funk and makes too much leptin, then adiponectin levels are suppressed.  The lack of adiponectin is clearly linked to Type II Diabetes risk.  It appears that measuring the size of fat cells is an excellent predictor of future adiponectin problems of magnitude.

This is why the subtitle of my book, The Leptin Diet, is, How Fit is Your Fat?

Even a short-term high fat diet (55% of calories as fat – typical junk food diet) can reduce energetic capacity and endurance, while at the same time impairing mental capability.  Not exactly a competitive advantage in sports or in the office.

A specific mechanism was identified – an increase in uncoupling proteins.  This means that instead of using calories to produce energy, normal metabolism was uncoupled by the high fat diet so that the extra calories could be disposed of as heat.  This is a defense mechanism against being poisoned by too much food.

The trade off, in order to perform this defensive action, is that normal energy production is sacrificed.  This resulted in a 50% drop in endurance by the 9th day (animal study).

Since the energy currency of your body (ATP) is also used by your brain as a communication molecule, it is not at all surprising that less physical energy would coincide with less mental horsepower and ability.

If you want you brain and body to have a fighting chance, don’t poison yourself with too much food.  I found this study interesting, as any time I see myself eating more than I know I should it is obvious that I have less energy when I run.

Many people know that on some days their energy is in gear and clicking along and on other days their body feels more like molasses, a struggle to stay in motion.  These are examples of good timing and bad timing, regardless of the reason why.

Leptin is the commander in chief of all hormones and one of its main timing rhythms is on a 24-hour cycle wherein leptin levels are highest at midnight (meaning don’t eat food and prepare other hormones for sleep-related timing release).

In health, leptin and adiponectin levels rise together as a team.  During weight gain, leptin levels rise excessively in the blood and do not enter the brain properly (causing leptin resistance and food cravings any time, especially at night).  The excess leptin in the blood causes adiponectin to fall, resulting in insulin resistance and the risk for developing type II diabetes.

In addition to these general patterns and relationships of leptin and adiponectin this new study indicates that the precise timing of adiponectin can be thrown off, especially by over-consuming food.  The researchers also showed that bad timing caused gene related defects in adiponectin receptors, interfering with the healthy processing of blood sugar.

It is interesting that fasting fast-forwards adiponectin timing, a feature that may be useful in that a one-day fast will often clear the feeling of jet lag many people have from eating too much.  However, continued fasting for any length of time beyond 24 hours is very likely to induce the leptin-starvation response as well as disrupt the 24-hour rhythm just as much as overeating.

Managing adiponectin well is the single most important hormone for preventing insulin resistance and type II diabetes.  The most basic way to do this is to follow the Five Rules of the Leptin Diet.