Weight Management has been the all-time favorite new year resolution. Leptin Hormone is an important hormone when it comes to weight management. Leptin is made in the white adipose cells (fat cells) and sends a seity signal to your brain. Leptin lets your hypothalamus know when it’s time for you to stop eating, then it increases your metabolic rate to achieve energy balance. In other words, it is your “slimming” hormone – when you eat, fat cells produce leptin hormone to suppress appetite.

Studies have found that chronic fructose consumption induces leptin resistance prior to body weight, adiposity, serum leptin, insulin, or glucose increases, and this fructose-induced leptin resistance accelerates high-fat induced obesity.

In the last couple of years, there has been increasing number of cafes in almost every city.  There are bubble tea shops around the corner, coffee shops just a few steps away, fruit tea, juice blend shops in any vicinity.

Fructose consumption is on the rise with increased flavored drinks

Fructose is almost synonymous in all flavored drinks, and the flavored drinks may be marketed as healthy fruit juice blend, fruit tea drink, your favorite flavored coffee, your energy drink and many more. Fructose comes from fruit. This doesn’t mean that fructose is a good thing when it gets processed into a syrup, which gets added to your favorite drink. When you see bottles of pump dispenser sitting behind the bar, the coffee shop or the tea house, those are the syrups that get added to your drinks.

Many flavors are available these days: rose, raspberry, blueberry, caramel, hazelnut, mocha, apple, etc. Now, think about the drinks options you see on the menus: blueberry juice blend, apple and peach, mint bubble tea, hazelnut latte, mocha latte, etc. Most of these options are from the syrups, not from the fruits/nuts that their names suggest. Here are some typical ingredients of the flavored syrup:

  • Hazelnut syrup: sugar, fructose, water, flavors, citric acid (E330), potassium sorbate (E202), sodium benzoate, color: caramel (E150d)
  • Vanilla syrup: sugar, water, natural flavors, preservative: potassium sorbate (e202), citric acid (e330), color: caramel (e150d).
  • Cookies & Cream syrup: cane sugar, dextrose, fructose, water, cocoa powder, natural flavor
  • Mocha syrup: water, caramel color, lactic acid, natural and artificial flavor, sucralose, cellulose gum, acesulfame potassium, sodium benzoate, and potassium sorbate
  • Rose concentrated syrup: fructose, rose syrup, sugar, xanthan gum, rose flavor potassium sorbate, Red #3, Red #40
  • Raspberry syrup: cane sugar, dextrose, fructose, water, milk, natural flavor.

It is common to see 15-30mls of these syrups added to your 300+ml flavored drinks. That means you are getting a large proportion of your fructose already.

High Fructose Corn Syrup used in Bottled Drinks

There are other forms of fructose, including crystalline fructose, high fructose corn syrup, glucose syrup, etc. used in bottled drinks. All are fructose syrup that is no longer related to the fruits and vegetables that it originates. Most syrups are made from GMO (Genetically Modified) corn. Other plants used to make syrup include agave, rice, potato starch, wheat and many others. It is simply a highly processed food from a series of processes that involves Mixing, Liquefaction, Deproteinization, Saccharification, Decolorization, Decarburization, Ion exchange and Evaporation. During this process, the fructose becomes free fructose that is metabolized differently from glucose and it is also free of other nutrients and fiber that is in your fruits and vegetables when consumed as whole food.

Fructose can only be metabolized in the liver

Sugar is made up of glucose and fructose. Glucose is metabolized in any tissue throughout the body for its energy. Fructose, on the other hand, can only be metabolized in the liver. When you consume drinks that contain fructose, the extra fructose will get stored away as Triglycerides and sent away for storage in the liver. When it is over and above the storage capacity, that’s when things start to slow down and dysfunction results. Insulin (which is the hormone in response to glucose for cell absorption for energy) only works with glucose. Increased fructose intake, however, has no effect on insulin and leptin. Increased fructose consumption over a long period can reduce the sensitivity of insulin and leptin (the “slimming” hormone) making those hormones less responsive to blood glucose and satiety signals. Over time, this contributes to insulin resistance (which can lead to diabetes) and leptin resistance (which can lead to obesity).

Sugar is made up of glucose and fructose. Glucose is metabolized in any tissue throughout the body for its energy. Fructose, on the other hand, can only be metabolized in the liver. When you consume drinks that contain fructose, the extra fructose will get stored away as Triglycerides and sent away for storage in the liver. When it is over and above the storage capacity, that’s when things start to slow down and dysfunction results. Insulin (which is the hormone in response to glucose for cell absorption for energy) only works with glucose.

Increased fructose consumption over a long period can reduce the sensitivity of insulin and leptin (the “slimming” hormone) making those hormones less responsive to blood glucose and satiety signals. Over time, this contributes to insulin resistance (which can lead to diabetes) and leptin resistance (which can lead to obesity).

Three tips to get you started increasing your Leptin in 2020

Sensitize your “slimming” hormone – leptin can get your body responding to your “Slimming” New Year Resolution more effectively. Here is the three-step Stop-Start-Share to get you started:

  • STOP buying flavored drinks / bottled drinks for one week starting today. When you can do that for one week, you can take the next step for extending that to 2 weeks and so on. You can feel the difference after a couple of weeks if you have been a regular consumer.
  • START your buffet gathering with the fruit counter. Fruits contain fiber and other macros- and micronutrients. When they start filling your stomach, leptin will be on its roll, and you will have less from the other buffet tables, which are mostly fattening food. Eating the oranges is much better than drinking the orange juice!
  • SHARE this information with friends so they can become your ally in your weight management journey. It is always better to have companionship when you work on a goal that is shared by a friend. It will become a sustainable goal.

Have a Happy and Healthy 2020!

References:

  • Basciano, H., Federico, L. & Adeli, K. Fructose, insulin resistance, and metabolic dyslipidemia. Nutr Metab (Lond), 2005
  • Shapiro A1, Mu W, Roncal C, Cheng KY, Johnson RJ, Scarpace PJ Fructose-induced leptin resistance exacerbates weight gain in response to subsequent high-fat feeding, 2008