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Understanding Leptin and Its Role in Metabolic Health

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Ever heard of leptin ? It's a hormone that plays a critical role in regulating your appetite, energy levels, and body weight. 🌟 Leptin is often referred to as the "satiety hormone" because it signals your brain when you’ve had enough food, helping you feel full after eating. However, when leptin levels are out of balance, they can contribute to hunger, overeating, and  weight gain. 🤯 Leptin’s Role in Metabolism : Leptin is produced by fat cells. It communicates with the brain (particularly the hypothalamus) to control appetite and energy expenditure. High leptin levels can signal that you have enough fat stores, leading to reduced appetite. Low leptin levels can make you feel hungrier and can lead to overeating or weight gain. Leptin Resistance : In some cases, despite having plenty of fat stores, the body becomes resistant to leptin’s signals (known as leptin resistance). This can lead to chronic hunger, overeating, and difficulty losing weight. Leptin resistance is of...
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Fruits and Veggies First!

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  I’ll be honest – I didn’t grow up eating a lot of whole fruits and vegetables. It just wasn’t something I was accustomed to.  I have wondered if this is one reason that I have struggled with metabolic issues as an adult.  In my health journey, I had to teach myself how to incorporate them into my life and way more than 1 a day. 🍏  When my kids were little, I knew I wanted them to eat more whole fruits and vegetables that I did so I would ask them eat the fruit and/or vegetables that were on their plate first. It worked (mostly) and as teens they now eat and enjoy a good variety!  When I started to try to really up my fruit and vegetable intake, I realized that the same method might work for me. Now, the simple trick I use is starting every meal (or snack) with a fruit, veggie or a salad 🥝🍓🥒 no matter what the meal. I just keep it simple - today before lunch I simply peeled, cut and ate a huge carrot. Here’s how it can work: 👉 Before eating your usual meal...
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One thing that is fortunate in our fight for metabolic health is that there is technology that can help. Here are a couple of my favorite tools:  ⌚️Apple Watch  I use it to measure: Heart Rate Variability 'HRV': HRV is the measure of variation in time between each heartbeat. It can be used to decipher stress levels in the body. Cardio Fitness 'VO2 Max': VO2 Max is a measure of the max amount of oxygen the body can utilize during intense exercise. A higher VO2 Max is an indication of better cardiovascular health. Sleep Duration: Several types of smart watches can track how long you sleep. Not getting enough sleep can affect metabolism and health. Steps and 'Active' Calories: Step counts and estimated calories burned from activity can give you more data points into whether you are staying active enough throughout the day. 📈Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) CGMs provide real-time continuous tracking of blood sugar levels. This can help you see how your body respond...
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The Problems with Potassium

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  In the research I have done, potassium is quite possibly the mineral I am most intrigued by when it comes to metabolism. Adequate levels in the body are crucial to metabolic health. However, the research is very clear - most US Adults are not consuming enough potassium in their diet - by some reports over 90% of us.  The current AI for potassium is based on updated dietary reference intakes and is currently  3,400 mg for men and 2,600 mg for women. The  FDA Daily Value - the target value used on food labels - is 4700 mg per day. Adequate potassium in our diet is essential for cellular and metabolic health.  A few points: Potassium in our diet is crucial for cellular hydration and therefore optimal cellular function. Adequate levels facilitate glucose uptake by the cells Adequate potassium levels in our diet improve insulin sensitivity and carbohydrate tolerance Potassium in our diet is important for function of pancreas beta cells and efficient insulin release...
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OWN the Basics for Metabolic Health

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  If you are looking to improve your metabolic health, make sure you OWN the basics first. It is so easy to go down the social media rabbit hole and get completely overwhelmed with what we should be doing when maybe we should be concentrating on nailing the basics first. I've been down ALL of the nooks and crannies searching for reasons but I ultimately found my answer right here 🎯 in the 3 most important things we all know we need for good health.  Oxygen 🌱 Water 💧 Nutrition 🥗 We all realize these are vital to life, but are you making sure you don't have problems in this foundation?  A large portion of US adults have shown to be chronically dehydrated (I was).  Many people are also not getting optimal levels of certain nutrients in their diet.  There are piles 📚 of studies linking all three of these elements to issues with metabolic health.  Conversations about hormones such as cortisol are a big topic on social media right now. If you are concerned a...
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I used to wonder why sugar is so harmful to health, especially since it comes from a plant. It’s not something artificially created in a lab—it’s grown in the ground!  The answer is what is removed before it is consumed. As a whole food, raw sugarcane has plenty of fiber. Even extracted sugarcane juice is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Some people even refer to sugarcane juice as a health food.  All of these benefits are removed when the plant is processed into the white crystals we are all so familiar with. Maybe it really is nutritious and the natural form – and meant to be consumed in a much less quantity than we consume it today! 
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Leptin

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Leptin is the hormone that should be saving us from too much energy intake - from overeating. It's a satiety hormone - basically the 'full' trigger. Leptin and its correct functioning may be the key to a correctly functioning 'weight management system'.   I believe that it is common sense to think that managing our weight was not meant to be difficult.  We aren't supposed to have to count calories and macros. No other animal has to do that to maintain their ideal weight. Sure, there are animals with metabolic challenges but in general, most are able to maintain a consistent weight naturally. Humans are the ones that put huge amounts of measurement, thought and work into managing our weight and we by far are the most unsuccessful at doing it. So - what gives? If hormones allow a dog or a cat or a mouse or a bird to control their weight effortlessly, it would make logical sense that our seemingly inability to control our human weight is a hormone problem . Since ...
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