There are no rules

Last evening I was reviewing a lecture on all the pathways (hormones) that cause us to eat or not eat. The gut alone (stomach, small bowel, even large bowel) have hormones which may either increase or decrease our hunger. They follow pathways to an area in the hypothalamic area of the brain. Stimulate one area, and your appetite goes up and metabolism down. Stimulate another area and appetite goes down and metabolism up. This area is impacted not only by gut hormones, but by fat cells themselves (leptin), and the pancreas (insulin, amylin, pancreatic polypeptide, to name but a few).

We are under powerful control to protect our fat, yet have some hormones that will decrease hunger also. Now think also how emotions, stress and pain influence our eating, and you can see how difficult it is to figure out how to eat, what to eat and when to eat. Worse, depending on your genetic makeup, you may lose weight easily while others struggle.

Even if we simply focus on the stomach hormone ghrelin, which begins to drop sometime before we eat, and stimulates the ‘hunger' pathway in the brain, you realize how difficult it is to override this stimulus. We are driven to eat. However, we might be able to subdue that hunger hormone simply by distending the stomach with water, or possibly cause less intense signaling if we stick to a protein snack which digests slowly, as opposed to a carbohydrate.

A hormone in the upper small intestine called GIP is heavily influenced by carbohydrates to release insulin from the pancreas. That insulin will drop blood sugar, but at the same time, inhibit fat metabolism.

Another little mechanism that makes this whole process of weight loss and weight maintenance difficult, is that when you lose weight the hormone leptin drops as fat cells shrinks, which increases hunger and lowers your metabolism; hence the major reason for a lot of us regaining weight, once lost.

I mention these few hormones simply to drive home the fact that we are under powerful control to maintain our fat stores. Gaining weight, or being overweight is not a function of slothfulness, it's related to those hormones which determine hunger and metabolism, much like the growth hormone determines height.

Simply said, each of us must find what works for our ‘metabolism' and each of us is different. For a lot of people, it seems like lowering carbohydrate and increasing fat, at very least minimizes the fat storage effect of insulin. Timing of meals may be very important also. Some of us may do just fine on two meals per day, allowing some of these hormones to ‘rest' when we don't eat for 12 or 15 or 18 hours occasionally.

It seems physiologically logical that if all of us were to avoid evening and night snacking, that alone might turn the magical switch where our bodies are turning to our own fat as a fuel, simply because our metabolism drops in the evening. Easier said than done, I know!

The ‘game' of weight loss does not stop after we have lost weight. You and I need to be extremely vigilant as we try to maintain weight loss, because all of these hormones will strive to have you return to your highest weight (set point). So, during your weight loss journey, you need to find what is working, and then maintain these same habits. We may sway a bit with extra snacks, but we must get back on track very quickly.

It's difficult, it's annoying, it's frustrating, but we were created to store fat; some more than others. So, don't ever give up trying. Your hormonal make up may be different than others and the process slower, but eventually you will achieve your goal. Keep searching for what works for you, but never give up.

Dr. Doug