Hey Aggressive Fat Loss,
It is harder it is to lose weight once you hit age 35-40. Leptin is a big factor in this.
Leptin is a hormone that plays a crucial role when it comes to our weight, and knowing how to control leptin can, in fact, reverse the weight you’ve gained with age…
When you’re leptin sensitive, leptin, which lives in your fat cells, signals to a part of your brain, the hypothalamus, to begin revving up the metabolism and burning fat!
You’re quite sensitive to leptin when you’re younger, which is why you’re able to keep the weight off; leptin functions as it’s supposed to and signals for your stored body fat to be burned!
The problem, though, is that as you age you become less leptin sensitive and more leptin resistant.
If you want to know why you become leptin resistant with age, I’d strongly suggest that you check out this video I posted to my YouTube channel explaining exactly what causes age-related leptin resistance:
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Here’s some Quick Things to Implement to Modulate Leptin Responses a Bit More
This whole thing means that when you’re leptin resistant, your brain becomes “resistant” to leptin and doesn’t heed its signal to burn fat… so you end up storing fat instead.
This is a nasty side effect of aging, but the good news is that it’s somewhat controllable
And there are 3 pretty darn incredible ways to turn yourself from a leptin-resistant individual back into a leptin-sensitive individual, regardless of your age!
#1 – Exercise
Consistent exercise increases hypothalamic levels of interleukin 6, or IL-6, which is a cytokine that induces the production of the anti-inflammatory protein interleukin 10, or IL-10.
Remember how I said that leptin signals to a part of your brain, the hypothalamus, to begin burning fat?
Well, because IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory protein produced in the hypothalamus, the crucial part of your brain that leptin signals, it keeps this area “clean” and able to function smoothly without a buildup of inflammation that can disrupt leptin signaling and cause weight gain!
It sounds so simple, but think of it like this:
If you have a bunch of static in your body (inflammation) it’s harder for a signal to transmit. It’s like a cell phone in a tunnel… It just doesn’t get the signal out as well.
Getting a grip on these particular interleukins through exercise can make it so the signal transmits clearer.
2) Get a Grip on Stress (I like to use Adaptogens)
Stress is obviously well known as being something that isn’t great for your wellbeing or health.
But here’s what is does in a nutshell:
- Cortisol Increase
- Subsequent Blood Sugar Spike (fight or flight response)
- Potential Decrease in Insulin Sensitivity
- Increase in Visceral Fat Deposition
Of course, among all of these things, leptin resistance may occur as well. Anytime a signal is disrupted like this, it throws off this entire axis.
There is a lot of evidence based research both observational and some even mechanistic that demonstrate the power of adaptogens (ashwaganda, reishi mushroom, cordyceps).
Essentially what they do is they help you “adapt” to a stressor and even potentially elevate your baseline ability (resilience) to deal with a stressor. So it’s a longer term plan where you start to notice over time that you’re a bit less “fragile” if you want to call it that.
Here’s a recipe that I make at night, I call it my Choco-Moo-Moos because my wife says it’s like my sippy cup of hot chocolate at night (or you can try Cacao-Calm – but more on that below)
- 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
- 1/8 Cup Coconut Cream (from a can)
- 1 Tsp Ashwaganda Powder
- 1 Tsp Reishi Powder
- 1.5 Cups Coconut Milk or Almond Milk or Hemp Milk
- Stevia to Sweeten
It is a bit hard to mix, and can be a pain to mix it all, but it’s pretty awesome.
A friend of mine that lives in the same town I grew up in created a product that emulates a lot of what I would make (but honestly better and more convenient), it’s called Cacao Calm.
You really ought to try it if you’re looking for a comforting hot-cocoa type keto-friendly beverage to have at night.
Try Cacao-Calm Here
It has a full 1,000mg of Ashwaganda in it in the form of what is called KSM-66 which is one of the better known (and researched) ashwagandas out there.
Whole idea behind their drink is to be something that you can sip on and feel the effects of, PLUS have it be totally keto-friendly and pretty close to guilt free (still 2g net carbs).
This is a longer term gameplan for leptin, stress is HUGE.
#2 – Periodically Fasting (5:2 Strategy)
It’s truly astounding how incredible fasting can be when it comes to reversing leptin resistance. I would argue that implementing weekly fasts is probably the best way to reverse age-related leptin resistance.
Simply writing it all out would not do fasting, nor you, justice, which is why I discuss in my YouTube video exactly how fasting can help turn you back onto the path of leptin sensitivity, as well as how many hours you should be fasting and how many days per week you should fast, too, so you may want to dive into that a bit more, but in short it works like this:
A 1-2x weekly fast (even just doing 18-20hr fasts on the weekends only) can make a huge dent in the brain’s signal from leptin.
Here’s an analogy:
You have a crazy ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend and they keep calling you off the hook (leptin). You don’t answer because they’ve annoyed you. Each time you are eating, it’s like the phone is ringing.
In essence, taking a break from food now and then makes it so that the brain forgets about the crazy ex calling and actually picks up the phone the next time it does call….
Is it a trap, or is it effective, ha! Guess we’re not the ones to judge that, all we know is it got the brain to pick up the phone! The leptin resistance trick worked.
Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to read and please don’t forget to check out Cacao-Calm and try it out for a couple nights. It’s perfect for a winter nighttime beverage! Try It Here
See you in the comments!
Aggressive Fat Loss
