Vitality News Health Articles

An important factor in sustaining weight loss is making sure you know how to reset hypothalamus activity, which prevents your body from creating fat reserves The human body has a built in ability to store the energy from food as fat, which allowed our ancestors to store this energy when food was less plentiful. Ancient hunter-gatherers had to deal with extended period of little to no food, and these fat reserves allowed them to survive.

Today, people rarely go through periods of reduced food availability due to our modern lifestyle. We generally do not have a need to store large fat reserves, but the hypothalamus still will perform this function. Unless you understand how to reset hypothalamus function by carefully monitoring your intake and paying attention to healthy eating practices, the innate ability of the human body can make you fat.

It is important to recognize that not only is the number of calories eaten important, but so is the form of those calories. Fats, carbohydrates, and proteins are all used in different ways by our bodies, and there are differences in how the excess calories from those sources are stored by the body. By carefully selecting the sources of our caloric intake, we can reset hypothalamus reactions to work in our favor instead of against us.

A gland deep in the brain, called the hypothalamus, is responsible for regulating appetite. Signals from the hypothalamus let us know when to eat by sending hunger pains. It also signals us when we have eaten enough and are full. Unfortunately the signal for being full is slow. It can take up to 20 minutes for us to realize we have eaten enough. You can be the boss of your hypothalamus by eating slowly. By doing so, you will get the signal that you are full before you overeat.

You should exercise caution when including fat into any diet. Fat contains nine calories per gram in comparison to carbs and proteins which only contain four per gram. You should not totally exclude fat, as some fats are needed but they should be limited to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. A good quality protein is preferred as a better choice as it will slowly be converted and will hold off those hunger pangs for a much longer time. Protein also provides the added benefit in speeding tissue construction and healing.

Carefully choosing carbs is the most important factor in retraining your hypothalamus from storing up fat. Simple carbohydrates, such as those found in syrup, honey, and sugar, absorb into the body quickly. This results in a barrage of hormones being released as a signal to the hypothalamus to begin hoarding fat. Complex carbohydrates, such as those found in fruit, vegetables, and whole grain, take much longer to seep into the system. So they do not trigger the fat-storing process. Putting less stress on your hypothalamus will keep you from saving up fat.

The way to dodge the hypothalamus’ instinct to store fat for lean times is to eat a healthy and balanced diet, geared toward maintaining your current weight. Such a diet includes whole grains, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and proteins but limits the consumption of simple sugars.

The trick to losing weight and keeping it off is squelching your body’s attempt to “save” you with extra, unnecessary fat reserves. In ancient times, food came from what primitive people could hunt and gather. Sometimes, there was plenty, and sometimes there was none. Now, we have food constantly available. The hypothalamus, a master hormone gland, has not evolved to recognize this situation. So we will get fatter unless we reset hypothalamus function with healthy eating patterns focused on proteins, whole grains and healthy fats, while avoiding simple sugars. Eating a healthy diet is the best way to dodge the ancient, fat storage tendency of the hypothalamus.

- J. Boda