Leptin and Reversing type 2 Diabetes

As most of you have heard, my new eBook, 180 Degree Diabetes – Preventing and Reversing Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes, has been published.

In that book, I fail to talk about the connection between the hormone leptin and type 2 diabetes, although I’m fully aware of it. The book was complicated enough, and the bottom line is that overfeeding HED-style has the ability to decrease insulin resistance. It is quite possible, however, that it does this because overfeeding raises leptin levels, and leptin is the master hormone that may control insulin resistance – even more so than cortisol which I chose to focus on instead.

On page 87 of 180 Degree Diabetes, I use a quote by Russ Farris from The Potbelly Syndrome, which is discussed in the book. However, I deleted one important aspect from that quote that needs careful consideration. The quote used was:

“…insulin resistance leads to weight gain, but most health professionals believe that the opposite is true. If obesity does cause insulin resistance, then we would expect people who are overfed to become more insulin resistant, but that is not the case. Researchers in Indianapolis overfed six slender, active, young adults for several weeks… Five of the six subjects became LESS insulin resistant!”
-Russ Farris

The part left out was (the … between ‘several weeks’ and ‘five of the six’):

"At the end of this period, the subjects had gained an average of 9.7 pounds and their leptin level had risen 68 percent."

That is very substantial when you consider what was written in this blog post, published on January 5th, passed along to me by fellow Condorman aficionado – Brock Cusick. Thanks Brock!

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/01/leptin-controlled-gene-can-reverse.html

I know overfeeding seems like a very strange and bizarre and even reckless dietary strategy, but when it reliably raises leptin in a matter of weeks, it’s no wonder why my fasting and postprandial glucose levels dropped by 26% in 30 days.

Couple this with the low-fructose provision laid out in the book, and you have a tremendous insulin-resistance lowering capability that no other diet can achieve without starvation, which, as we know, is a short-term fix that exacerbates the core problems in the long-term and has dire metabolic consequences. Why is the fructose provision key? Because Richard Johnson, author of The Sugar Fix, knows that fructose has two key fundamental properties.

The first is that fructose does not stimulate the release of leptin. Johnson states:

“Blood tests showed that the women’s leptin levels were 35% lower when they drank fructose-sweetened beverages than when they drank glucose beverages.”

Raising leptin is key, and since glucose raises leptin more than straight fructose or any carbohydrate containing fructose such as High-Fructose Corn Syrup or sucrose (white sugar), it is vastly preferable. The funny part is that the most glucose-heavy carbohydrates often appear at the top of the Glycemic Index – grains, potatoes, and corn. Hence the 180 Degree Diabetes chapter title: “The Glycemic Index Catastrophe.”

Also, fructose is the only type of carbohydrate that can induce leptin resistance – where leptin levels, even if they rise, do not have the intended effect because the leptin isn’t getting through to its receptors. Johnson writes:

“High doses of fructose cause leptin resistance. This phenomenon was demonstrated in a 2008 study led by two of my former colleagues at the University of Florida, Alexandra Shapiro, PhD, and Phillip Scarpace, PhD.”

In the new diabetes reversal eBook, the main strategy recommended is to eat at as many non-fructose source calories as possible, with an emphasis on saturated fat in the fat category (which is more metabolically stimulating and does the least oxidative damage), to get maximal results. How many type 2 diabetics will be able to reverse their condition? We just don’t know yet, but I hope it approximates the number that have the courage to try it.  Theoretically, any diet that raises leptin levels while decreasing leptin resistance should have the maximal effect - two bangs for one buck, and I believe this is precisely what is achieved on such advice. 

Read more about 180 Degree Diabetes at:

http://www.180degreehealth.com/180-degree-diabetes.html