Fight Obesity With Leptin Supplements

Written by Hannah.T, PhD | Reviewed by Jamie, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Have you ever eaten a big meal and not felt full afterward? Do you just keep eating and eating and never know when to stop? That doesn’t mean you have no self-control or that weight gain is inevitable.

These are signs that you might have a problem with the hormone leptin.¹ Leptin resistance is very common in people with obesity and is one of the main reasons it’s hard to lose weight.²
Scientists are optimistic that leptin can be harnessed to fight obesity.² Here, we’ll help you understand how leptin supplements work to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Obesity Is a Growing Problem

Obesity (high weight) is a serious problem in the United States and worldwide. A 2018 survey estimates that around 42% of American adults have obesity.3 Obesity also affects young people, with 19% of children and teens in the US considered to have obesity.3 These numbers are far worse than 20 to 30 years ago, and the problem seems to keep growing.3

Obesity can be detrimental to overall health. People with obesity are at risk for many health problems, including:

Type 2 diabetes;
Heart disease;
Stroke;
Liver disease;
Cancer; and
Breathing problems.3

Scientists have looked at the many factors that can cause obesity to help find ways to treat it. In 1994, leptin was discovered, which provided a lot of hope for fighting obesity.1 So, what is this mystery molecule?

Leptin Makes You Feel Full

Leptin is a hormone that tells your brain that you’re full.1 That full feeling is sometimes called “satiety”. Fat cells produce leptin, which is also called the hunger hormone or satiety hormone.

Then leptin travels through your bloodstream and into your brain via the blood brain barrier.2 There, leptin tells your brain to put a stop to the hungry feelings.1 Over time, leptin helps your brain find a balance between your calorie intake (how much food you eat) and energy expenditure (how much work you do).1

Leptin Levels Must Be Balanced

The amount of leptin in your bloodstream helps maintain that healthy energy balance. A blood test will tell you if your leptin levels are abnormal.1 Your doctor might suggest a leptin test if you or your child show signs of obesity. Since leptin is produced by fat cells, the more fat tissue you have, the higher your leptin levels will be.1

If you make too little leptin, your body enters starvation mode.1 Low levels of leptin often happen when you’re dieting.1 You’ll feel very hungry and want to eat nonstop.1

You might think that producing lots of leptin will help you lose weight because you always feel full. It’s actually the opposite. Most people with obesity have higher levels of leptin than people without obesity.2

If leptin is always there in large amounts, your brain starts ignoring the signal.2 That phenomenon is called “leptin resistance”.2 It’s a major problem in people with obesity.1

Leptin Deficiency Can Be Genetic

Some people with obesity have genetic diseases that affect leptin’s function.4 The issue might be making leptin, processing it, or your brain receiving it.4 Some of the genetic diseases related to leptin function include:

Congenital leptin deficiency;
PCSK1 deficiency;
POMC deficiency;
Leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency; and
Melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.4

The above are diseases that you are born with.4 With these diseases, signs of obesity will show up in babies or young children.4 However, these diseases are all very rare.2,4 For instance, congenital leptin deficiency only occurs in about 1 in 4.4 million people.4 For most people, the cause of leptin resistance and obesity is more complex.

Leptin Resistance Is a Complex Problem

Leptin resistance causes a vicious cycle for people with obesity.2 Extra fat cells release too much leptin. Your brain becomes resistant to leptin. You don’t know when to stop eating, so you get more fat cells. Then those extra fat stores produce even more leptin. One way to break the cycle is to treat leptin resistance.2

We don’t know exactly what causes your brain to ignore the leptin signal. Some studies show that leptin never makes it from the bloodstream to the brain.5 Others think the leptin molecule is misshapen.5 There may also be inflammation (swelling) that prevents your brain from sensing leptin.5

Researchers are trying to find ways to increase leptin sensitivity.2 But so far, they’ve found no good medications to stop leptin resistance in your brain.2 Instead, the answer may be to decrease leptin levels in the blood.

Leptin Supplements Promote Weight Loss

You can harness the power of leptin to help you lose weight with leptin supplements. However, “leptin supplement” is a bit of a misleading name. They aren’t pills filled with 100% leptin like you might think. Rather, they’re supplements that help your body regulate how much leptin to make.

It might seem like the best way to lose weight is to get more leptin, because you’ll feel full and eat less. But because leptin resistance occurs, simply adding more leptin into your body doesn’t help you lose weight.2 The only time taking a leptin pill helps is if you have one of those rare genetic diseases.2

For everyone else, lowering blood leptin levels can improve leptin sensitivity.6 So, many diet and lifestyle plans aim to lower leptin levels.

The Amount and Types of Food You Eat Matters

One way to get less leptin is through surgery that changes how much you eat. Bariatric surgeries change the structure of your stomach so you eat less and get to a healthy weight.7 Gastric bypass surgeries have been shown to improve gastrointestinal hormone levels.7 Leptin decreases to a healthy level after gastric bypass because you lose body fat.7

Exciting research shows that the type of food you eat can also help combat leptin resistance.8 Since leptin is produced by fat cells, try to avoid fatty foods.8 Certain types of sugars like fructose and sucrose can raise leptin levels, too.8 On the other hand, a diet high in protein can bring down the amount of leptin in your blood.8

Almased is a high-protein, low-carb leptin supplement shake. Soy, honey, and yogurt combine to give Almased 27 grams of protein in every serving.9 Many scientific studies have shown that an Almased diet helps you lose weight fast.9 The shakes curb your appetite and even help maintain healthy leptin levels.10

Burn Body Fat and Lower Leptin Levels With Almased

Scientists have discovered the benefits of Almased on leptin levels through rigorous research.

A 2016 study looked at adults with obesity for over 6 months.11 Some participants replaced all their meals with Almased shakes. Some used Almased and started exercising. The control group just tried a healthy diet.11

All three groups had decreases in their blood leptin levels after the trial.11 The two Almased groups had an even bigger decrease in leptin than the normal diet group.11 The Almased groups also lost more weight and body fat mass.11

Another study in 2022 looked at the effects of Almased on an even larger scale.10 This international study included over 400 participants with overweight or obesity. People who received Almased shakes had decreased leptin levels after just 1 month.10 The scientists saw leptin levels decrease a lot at the start of the trial, which led to weight loss. Crucially, the weight stayed off for up to 12 months.10

These studies show that Almased is an effective leptin supplement. But you might be wondering how leptin supplements work to support weight loss.

Almased vs. Leptin Resistance

Lowering leptin levels and overcoming leptin resistance are key to beating obesity. Researchers have found that in mice, reducing leptin can make the brain more sensitive to it.6

Leptin doesn’t even have to go back to the “normal” levels. A partial reduction (20 to 80%) is enough to overcome leptin resistance.6 So, Almased’s ability to lower blood leptin levels makes dieting and weight management even easier.

Almased is made from a blend of soy, yogurt, and honey. These ingredients are the secret to successful weight loss. Soy proteins help transport leptin into the brain. This overcomes leptin resistance and helps curb your appetite.11

Soy may also help regulate certain genes in fat cells that are involved in leptin production.11 This can stop leptin resistance at the source. Almased’s unique blend is delicious, satisfying, and key to beating leptin resistance.

The benefits of Almased don’t end there! Almased also improves other common problems in people with obesity.

Insulin Levels Improve With Leptin Supplements

Insulin is a hormone that maintains the balance of sugar in the blood.12 Leptin and insulin are closely related. Leptin seems to block insulin secretion from the pancreas.12 Insulin, on the other hand, leads to more leptin being produced.12 The balancing act between these two hormones helps your body maintain the right amount of blood sugar (glucose).12

People with obesity are likely to have type 2 diabetes, a disease where insulin and blood sugar are unbalanced in part due to insulin resistance.3 One way to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in people who have overweight or obesity is to decrease insulin levels.13

The same large-scale study that looked at the effects of Almased on leptin also looked at insulin.13 An Almased-based diet and healthy lifestyle changes led to significant reductions in insulin. The more insulin levels dropped, the more weight was lost.13

Some of the participants were considered prediabetic.14 The term prediabetes means your blood sugar is higher than normal but not quite high enough to be considered diabetic. In prediabetic people who had Almased, their blood glucose levels returned to normal.14 Carbohydrates cause blood sugar spikes, so the low-carb high-protein formula in Almased is ideal.13 This is strong evidence that the low-carb high-protein shakes are diabetic-friendly.

Inflammation Improves With Almased

Many people with obesity also suffer from chronic inflammation (swelling throughout the body).13 Insulin seems to control inflammation. Together, insulin and inflammation impact leptin production.13 These three components — insulin, leptin, and inflammation — all contribute to type 2 diabetes risk.

Meal replacement with Almased lowers inflammation, too. The researchers who looked at insulin and leptin also measured some inflammatory markers in the blood.13 They saw that as insulin decreased, so did inflammation.13

Earlier in this article, we learned that inflammation can prevent leptin from reaching the brain.5 So, when Almased reduces inflammation, it also improves leptin sensitivity.

Try Almased, a Great Leptin Supplement

High leptin levels create a vicious circle that makes losing weight seem impossible. The more you eat, the hungrier you may feel. Break free with Almased, a nutritious and delicious meal replacement shake.

When you replace your meals with Almased’s high-protein, low-carb shakes, you’ll start shedding weight. Best of all, you won’t feel hungry all the time because Almased helps overcome leptin resistance.

Once you start Almased, you’ll feel more energized and see positive changes in your overall health. Don’t wait - give Almased a try today.

Sources

Leptin & leptin resistance. Cleveland Clinic. Updated February 23, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2024. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22446-leptin
Izquierdo AG, Crujeiras AB, Casanueva FF, Carreira MC. Leptin, obesity, and leptin resistance: where are we 25 years later? Nutrients. 2019;11(11):2704. doi:10.3390/nu11112704
Overweight & obesity statistics. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Published September 2021. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity
Congenital leptin deficiency. National Organization for Rare Disorders. Published March 9, 2023. Accessed February 1, 2024. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/congenital-leptin-deficiency/
Gruzdeva O, Borodkina D, Uchasova E, Dyleva Y, Barbarash O. Leptin resistance: underlying mechanisms and diagnosis. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2019;12:191-198. doi:10.2147/DMSO.S182406
Zhao S, Zhu Y, Schultz RD, et al. Partial leptin reduction as an insulin sensitization and weight loss strategy. Cell Metab. 2019;30(4):706-719.e6. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2019.08.005
Beckman LM, Beckman TR, Earthmann CP. Changes in gastrointestinal hormones and leptin after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure: a review. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010;110(4):571-584. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2009.12.023
Mendoza-Herrera K, Florio AA, Moore M, et al. The leptin system and diet: a mini review of the current evidence. Front Endocrinol. 2021;12:749050. doi:10.3389/fendo.2021.749050
Berg A, McCarthy HD. A soy-yoghurt-honey product as a therapeutic functional food: mode of action and narrative review. Heliyon. 2022;8(11):e11011. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11011
Kempf K, Röhling M, Banzer W, et al. Early and strong leptin reduction is predictive for long-term weight loss during high-protein, low-glycaemic meal replacement—a subanalysis of the randomised-controlled ACOORH Trial. Nutrients. 2022;14(12):2537. doi:10.3390/nu14122537
Koohkan S, Golesorkhi M, Vitolins MZ, McCarthy D, Berg A. The influence of a meal replacement formula on leptin regulation in obese adults. J Nutr Health Food Sci. 2016;4(4):1-5. doi:10.15226/jnhfs.2016.00169
Paz-Filho G, Mastronardi C, Wong ML, Licinio J. Leptin therapy, insulin sensitivity, and glucose homeostasis. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2012;16(Suppl 3):S549-S555. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.105571
Kempf K, Röhling M, Banzer W, et al. High-protein, low-glycaemic meal replacement decreases fasting insulin and inflammation markers—a 12-month subanalysis of the ACOORH trial. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1433. doi:10.3390/nu13051433
Röhling M, Kempf K, Banzer W, et al. Prediabetes conversion to normoglycemia is superior adding a low-carbohydrate and energy deficit formula diet to lifestyle intervention—a 12-month subanalysis of the ACOORH trial. Nutrients. 2020;12(7):2022. doi:10.3390/nu12072022

Blog